Project Mockingbird
by Person002
Summary: After being rescued from Cadmus at age nine, Project Mockingbird is renamed Paityn and given a new purpose by her savior, Amanda Waller. Four years into her service at A.R.G.U.S., Paityn is given a chance she never thought she'd get: the chance to be a hero. Tensions rise between A.R.G.U.S. and the League, and Paityn is left struggling to chose between new friends and old allies.
1. Chapter 1

Decided to re-write this story a little differently. Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice

* * *

 **A.R.G.U.S HEADQUARTERS**

 **JULY 4, 14:31 EDT**

Paityn walked down the hallway towards the briefing room, her boot heels clicking the floor of the corridor as she went. At first glance, she seemed to be a normal thirteen-year-old girl. On a closer look, one could see the large black and white wings sprouting from her shoulder blades, and a hard indifference in her eyes that most teen girls didn't possess. The long grey corridor was silent and empty, lined with locked doors. Paityn took paused on one of these doors and looked up at the camera at the top of it. The computer scanned her face to insure that she was designated authorization to enter before beeping affirmatively. The door to the briefing room opened for her and she stepped in, squinting against the harsh blue light of the computers. Despite the many messy desks and chairs in the room, there was only one person in the room, an African American woman wearing a navy blue suit. She was bent over a computer screen, studying the data displayed on the monitor.

"You wanted to see me, Amanda?" Paityn asked, drawing the woman's attention away from the computer and to the girl. Upon hearing Paityn's voice, Amanda straightened up.

"Yes." The women turned around, her dark eyes flashing. "Paityn, dear, you remember Cadmus, no?" Despite her affectionate designation of the girl, Amanda's eyes held no warmth as she studied the blonde before her. Paityn tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at the women.

"The twisted lab my so-called mother sold her body, and subsequently, _me,_ to?" Paityn snorted derisively. "Yes, I'm familiar." Even as Paityn scoffed, her eyes were filling with mounting unease at the mention of Cadmus. Amanda's lips twisted up, but her eyes remained cold and calculating.

"It appears that there is some trouble at the site," Amanda noted. "The cameras caught images of several members of the Justice League's protégés arriving at the scene. As the Justice Leagues is otherwise occupied, I thought now would be an ideal time for you to…acquaint yourself with the next generation of heroes. Why don't you go see what's going on?" Her tone of voice made certain that this was not a suggestion: it was an order. Paityn shook her head, eyes widening with panic.

"Amanda, please. I – I know my place here, but please, anything else. I can't go back to that place." The older woman shook her head patronizingly at the blonde, turning back to the computer screen.

"My dear, you remember our deal. Soon you will be free. As for the present, you _will_ do as I tell you." Although the woman spoke lightly enough, an ominous yet nearly undetected threat hung around her words. "It's a simple request, Paityn. Go try to gain the trust of these young heroes, yes? Go along with whatever they decide to do. This partnership could prove to be advantageous in the future." Despite its subtlety, the warning did not go unobserved for the younger girl. Lowering her head to hide the anger and fear displayed openly on her face, Paityn left the room. As the door slid shut behind her, a menacing smile slid over Amanda's cool façade.

* * *

 **WASHINGTON DC**

 **JULY 4, 14:47 EDT**

Paityn arrived at Cadmus, approaching from the back as to avoid being seen by the crowd of people that had gathered. Paityn studied the damage critically. Judging from the smell smoke that hung over the area, and the fire trucks gathered below, the building had been on fire. Some of the windows on the second floor were broken, but other than that, there seemed to be minimal damage. Paityn frowned. As far as she knew, the Justice League had no idea about Cadmus's true purposes. Why would they send their sidekicks to the scene unattended? _Well,_ she amended to herself, _if it_ is _just a fire, and they_ don't _know what Cadmus is really doing, then I'm sure the League thinks that this is something they can handle._

Folding her wings, Paityn dropped into the building. She looked around, hoping to find some hint of the other teenagers before the inevitably ventured down to the real Cadmus. At the very end of the hall, Paityn caught sight of an elevator with the doors pried open. The shaft was void of an elevator, but hanging from the top was a grappling hook. Paityn looked down the shaft and sighed in resignation, unfolding her wings and dropping. When the numbers on the side reached sub-level 26, the rope ran out. Paityn let out her wings more to stop her fall and flew into the open hallway. She dropped to the ground and slid to the side, her heart rate involuntarily going up at the familiar terror of her situation. _Screw this,_ she thought, _I don't care what Amanda said, I'm getting out of here._ As she turned to leave, her sensitive ears picked up a gasp of surprise. Paityn hesitated for a moment, before sighing and turning around. Paityn could make out three figures at the end of the hall. Against her better judgment, Paityn moved closer to see better. When she saw what they were seeing, she bit back a curse. They'd found the Genomorphs. If she left now, Amanda would kill her for not helping the teens.

"No…nothing odd going on here," she heard Aqualad say dazedly as he and his friends watched the Genomorphs march down the hall. The creatures were weird, vaguely prehistoric looking things. Paityn's best guess at their confusion were the G-Gnomes momentarily hypnotizing them. Her theory proved correct as the last of the creatures passed and Robin shook himself out of the trance and motioned to the other heroes.

"Come on." Paityn shadowed the teens as quietly as she could, knowing it was only a matter of time before the protégé of the world's greatest detective picked her out. _And it won't take long after that until he figures out who I am. Wonderful._ She watched, grudgingly impressed as Robin managed to bypass Cadmus's security in order to get into a room behind a locked door.

"Okay, I am officially whelmed," Robin announced as the doors slid open. Paityn's brow furrowed. _Whelmed?_ She peered into the room. It had a high ceiling, and stacked all the way to the top were tubes of Genomorphs. The big, white, bug-looking creatures were curled up in glass tubes, blue electricity crackling around them. The electricity they were producing gave the room an odd blue-ish glow. Stepping closer, Paityn listened to the teens as they slowly put together Cadmus's real job.

"And this Cadmus creates new life, too," Robin said, looking around at the Genomorphs. "Let's find out why."

 _New life,_ Paityn thought. _Like me._ Tired of watching and waiting, Paityn decided to make her presence known.

"They're called Genomorphs," she called out. "They're meant to be weapons, mainly," she added casually, enjoying the shock on their faces as they whipped around to stare at her. She smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not with Cadmus. Not anymore."

"How do you know that?" Kid Flash asked, staring at her.

"And what do you mean, 'not with Cadmus…anymore?'" Robin inquired.

"Most importantly," Aqualad interjected quietly. "Who are you, and why are you following us?" Paityn shrugged.

"One, I know because, well…" Paityn flexed her wings, drawing their attention to the abnormal addition to her body. "Two, they experimented on me and took my life away. They're my enemy even more than they are yours. Three, my name is Paityn. As for why I'm following you…I can assure you I mean no harm. I am merely curious." She spread her hands. She knew that much was true. No matter what Amanda had in mind, she wasn't foolish enough to get on the wrong side of the Justice League. "Tell me to get lost and I'll leave. If you're willing to have me along, I promise you I can help." Paityn had purposely worn civvies to dispel any potential suspicion. Even if A.R.G.U.S. had no quarrel with the Justice League, Paityn expected that the other teenagers would be wary of her had they known her affiliation with the organization. Even so, it was to her surprise that none of them protested. _Okay then_.

"Hang on," Robin said. He was staring at a file projected on his holographic glove. "Do you know what…Project Kr is?" Paityn frowned.

"Never heard of it," she replied honestly. "It must be a new development. You think you can find out?" Robin's free hand flew across the keyboard, a scowl crossing his face as he was denied access.

"Ugh, the file's triple encrypted," Robin groaned. "I can't –"

"Don't move!" The order came out of nowhere. The four teens spun towards the source of the voice. It came from a man wearing gold and blue armor. His golden helmet covered his hair and most of his face, but his pale blue eyes were exposed. He came running into the room, accompanied by a bunch of Genomorphs. Upon realizing who the intruders were, he stopped short, surprise and confusion flickering across his mostly concealed face. "Wait," he said, sounding confused. "Robin? Aqualad, Kid Flash?"

"At least he got your name right," Robin teased, sparing a glance at Kid Flash but not pausing from where he was still downloading the file. The man in armor paused, looking at Paityn.

"And you…Project Mockingbird. What are you doing back here?" Paityn's eyes flashed with anger and fear. Memories of the scared little girl she'd been, unsure of her purpose in life beyond the next sick test the scientists had planned for her, she was filled with a cold rage.

"I am not your _project_ ," she spat, moving forward. Kid Flash put his arm out, stopping her trajectory.

"Easy," he muttered. "I think we know this guy." _I know him too;_ Paityn thought, _and I hate him, just like I hate everyone else in this whole damn place._

"I know you." Aqualad affirmed Kid Flash's statement. "You're Guardian. A hero." Guardian shrugged, seeming slightly mollified at the introduction.

"I do my best," he said. Kid Flash scoffed contemptuously.

"Then what are you doing here?" The yellow clad speedster challenged Guardian. Paityn shook her head.

"He's the chief of security," the blonde girl muttered. She knew that Guardian had only been working there for about the past year. Despite her protests to returning to the facility, Paityn had somewhat willingly kept tabs on Cadmus since she'd escaped. Or, as Amanda put it, _been liberated._ She wasn't sure why exactly he knew who she was, but she wasn't eager to find out.

"And yet you came back?" Guardian asked rhetorically. "And you guys are trespassing. Well, three of you are anyways; Project Mockingbird is still Cadmus's property."

"My name is Paityn," she whispered, more to herself than anyone else. _Paityn,_ she reminded herself, _you have an identity._ Ignoring her, Guardian plowed on.

"We'll call the Justice League," he assured the teens. "Figure this out."

"You think the League is going to approve of you breeding weapons?" Kid Flash snapped. Confusion and shock sped across Guardian's face once again.

"Weapons?" He asked in surprise. "What are you – " The G-Gnome on his shoulder turned towards him, its horns flashing a bright red. Guardian stiffened, his face slackening. "What have I –" He brought a hand to his temple, squinting his eyes shut. "My head…" A blank look transcended upon him, and his vision cleared. "Take them down hard!" He ordered the Genomorphs around him. His voice had changed, slightly deeper and more assertive, edged with anger. "No mercy!" Paityn immediately snapped her wings out, taking to the air. One of the Genomorphs leapt at her and she instinctively dodged the attack. Brandishing the collapsible staff she'd kept hidden in her jacket pocket, she wacked another Genomorph with it. She cursed herself silently, wishing she'd packed more weapons than just the staff. But then again, she hadn't wanted to arouse suspicion.

"Paityn!" A voice called. The girl whirled around in air. Kid Flash was looked up at her. "Come on, we need to move." Inexplicably touched that the teenage speedster was already treating her like a teammate instead of a tagalong, Paityn followed him. She swept down, flying low to the ground after him and Aqualad, the Genomorphs hot on their trail. Robin was standing next to yet another closed door, a wire connecting one of his holographic gloves to the control system.

"Way to be a team player, Rob!" Kid Flash snapped at the darker haired boy, obviously annoyed that the younger boy had ditched them.

"Weren't you right behind me?" Robin asked, sounding genuinely surprised upon the realization that the others hadn't been aware of his plan. Paityn was only half listening to their argument, keeping one eye on Aqualad, who was still holding off the Genomorphs. Upon seeing that the other teens in the elevator, the dark skinned boy came sprinting towards them. He dove into the elevator, and the doors slid shut just in time to stop the Genomorphs from entering the crowded car with them. Instead of feeling the rising sensation that she'd expected, Paityn instead felt the elevator move in the opposite direction – down.

"We're headed down?" Aqualad echoed her thoughts, and Kid Flash quickly voiced his concern as well.

"Dude, out is up!" He barked at Robin, gesticulating wild to help his point. Robin glared at his friends, clearly annoyed by their lack of curiosity.

"Excuse me? Project Kr? It's _done,_ on sublevel 52." Paityn shook her head.

"Robin, I know you just met me, but believe me – Cadmus is not a place you want to be messing around in, okay?"

"This is out of control," Aqualad agreed, rubbing his neck. "Perhaps…" his voice faltered briefly. "Perhaps we should contact the League." Paityn weighed the expressions of on the boys' faces. All three were clearly conflicted about doing the 'right' thing and about proving themselves to their mentors. At that moment, the elevator doors opened, revealing a hallway that appeared to be made of red foam. Choosing to ignore Aqualad's question, Robin dashed out of the elevator.

"We _are_ already here," Kid Flash pointed out, following his friend. Aqualad sighed, trailing after his friends more slowly. Paityn, on the other hand, had been gripped with intense trepidation the moment the doors had opened. Memories of pain and fear washed over her. Shaking her head and clenching her jaw, Paityn took a deep breath and steeled herself. She extended her wings to follow the other teenagers. The three boys were crouched at a split in two halls. She could hear them discussing which hallway to try their luck with – both looked equally mysterious and threatening. Before they could make their decision, they were interrupted yet again.

"Hold!" A Genomorph stepped out into their line of sight. This one was more humanoid than the others, but still had the characteristic glowing horns. As he raised his hand, a barrel responded to the telekinesis and flew towards them. The four teenagers raced in the opposite direction of the Genomorph. Kid Flash, of course, reached the dead locked door first. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, the destination of Project Kr happened to be the door that they had reached. Paityn and the other two teens arrived shortly after the speedster, just in time to see him wedge a piece of metal between the closing doors labeled 'Project Kr.'

"Hurry!" Kid Flash yelled, leaping through the doors. Robin dashed in after him, Paityn following him more warily. After the other three reached the relative safety of the soon to be inaccessible room, Aqualad kicked out the barrel that was inhibiting the door from being closed out, effectively locking the door. Robin had already plugged his glove into the keypad of the door and was hacking into the system.

"I disabled the door," Robin announced, looking up. "We're safe."

"Or trapped," Paityn pointed out. "Depending on how you look at it." She looked around the room. In the center was a huge glass pod with G-Gnomes curled up above it, looking like they were protecting whatever was inside. Paityn could just barely make out a figure in it.

"Uh, guys?" Kid Flash said, staring at it. "You're gonna want to see this." He pressed a button to illuminate the pod, and the figure in it became clear. A boy with dark hair was sleeping in the pod. He looked like, without a doubt, a younger Superman – and the symbol on it's chest only confirmed this.

"Big K, little r…" Paityn noted. "It's the atomic symbol for Krypton." All four teens stared at the boy for a moment, stunned.

"Robin, hack," Aqualad said, voice clipped with shock.

"Right, right," the younger teen nodded, quickly pulling up the file on the teen in the pod. "Weapon designation: Superboy. A clone force grown in…sixteen weeks?! From DNA acquired from Superman." Paityn shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Acquired? Please. If this is the Cadmus I know, then stolen. Most definitely stolen."

"Yeah, no way the big guy knows about this," Kid Flash agreed, shaking his head. As the three protégés discussed the startling new development and attempted to contact their mentors, Paityn stepped closer to the clone, studying him sympathetically. _You're like me,_ she thought to herself. _Amanda, is this why I'm here?_ She wondered. Paityn shook her head. It didn't matter. _Whatever I'm really supposed to be doing, when you get out of here, Superboy? I'll be here for you. I promise._

"Paityn, you may want to step back," Robin cautioned her, snapping her out of her reverie. "I'm setting him free." Paityn nodded, moving back to join the others. The pod steamed and whooshed as it opened. The four teenagers on the ground watched as the dark haired boy in it woke. He was motionless for a moment, but then his hands started to move. He cracked his knuckles, and then his eyes; a startling but surprisingly beautiful pale blue flew open. Almost more quickly than Paityn could process, he was leaping out of his pod straight at Aqualad, tackling the pale haired boy to the ground.

"Superboy!" Paityn shouted. She, Robin and Kid Flash attempted to pull the clone off of the Atlantian, all three of them struggling against the stronger teen. The clone knocked Kid Flash to the side, and then kicked Robin away. Paityn wrapped her arms around the teen and lifted out the ground. Beating her wings down in strong thrusts, she managed to pull herself and Superboy high into the air. "Superboy, calm down," she ground out through clenched teeth, straining to keep the two of them airborne as Superboy struggled in her grasp. "We're trying to help you. I know you're confused, but if you would just listen –" Superboy's grip slackened for a minute. Paityn's sympathy for the boy caused her to let her guard down and Paityn also loosened her grasp. Taking her momentary weakness to his advantage, Superboy slung himself out of her grip and flung her towards the ground. Paityn hit the floor hard and winced in pain. She pushed herself up immediately, but Superboy had already launched himself at her again. Slamming her against the wall, he wrapped his hands around her throat, causing her to choke. She struggled in his grasp.

"Superboy," she hissed. "Please – "She was cut off as he forced his hands tighter around her windpipe. Blackness was clouding around the edges of her vision, and the wild realization that she was potentially about to die gave her the adrenaline rush she needed. She kicked him hard in the stomach, managing to surprise him just enough to push him off of her. Gasping for air, she spread her wings, figuring she stood a better chance in the air. But before she could get too far in her ascent, Superboy had grabbed her ankle, pulling her harshly into the ground. Her head hit the ground hard and she groaned, the darkness clouded over her eyes again.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice.

* * *

 **WASHINGTON DC**

 **July 5, 00:20 EDT**

Paityn groaned, squeezing her eyes shut tighter. Someone was tapping on her forehead. "Wakey, wakey, lil' Mockingbird," a voice sang in her ear. "Time to get up…" Paityn sat up quickly, banging her already sore head on the person hovering above her. "Ouch." She and the person said at the same time. Paityn blinked, trying to clear her eyes. She looked around the room, confusion and terror setting in as she recognized her surroundings.

"No…" she muttered. She was in a small room – more of a cell, really. The walls were white and plain, with no decoration what so ever. There was a cot on either side of the room, and an imposing metal door with a tiny window on it. Paityn buried her head in her hands. She was back in the cell that Cadmus had kept her in when she had been experimented on there. Which meant the person who had woken her up was…Paityn looked up, and sure enough, a teenage girl was sitting before her. The girl was Asian – half Japanese and half Korean, and had pale skin and a slightly unhealthy look to her, because she had been locked up her whole life. Other than that she seemed to be a normal girl – except for her eyes. They were a greenish-amber, and her pupils were narrow slits instead of round like a humans. She was dressed in a plain jumpsuit, and had an inhibitor collar around her neck. Even so, the girl was grinning almost manically at the other girl. "Kit," Paityn greeted the girl with a sigh. "Hello."  
Kit stared at her. "I can't believe you're back!" The older girl said, bouncing up and down. "I mean, really, who would come back to this hell hole?" Paityn got to her feet with a wince.

"That's a bit hypocritical coming from the person who never wanted to leave in the first place." Paityn's voice had a bite to it. "And anyways, it's not like I came back on purpose." The other girl fell silent behind her.

"Tori…" Kit said softly, using the Japanese word for bird she'd started calling Paityn before she'd had a name. "I'm sorry. I regretted my decision to stay every day…but you know why I stayed…I'm not as brave as you." Paityn turned around. Kit's eyes were full of regret. Paityn shook her head.

"I'm getting out of here," she told Kit. "I'm leaving, and I'm taking you with me." Kit's eyes darkened, and she stood up.

"No, you're not." The girl's voice was firm, angry. "I am staying here." Paityn stared at her friend.

"Kit, why? Everything is going to be okay – I was here with some of the Justice League's sidekicks, um, _partners,_ and they'll help us get out." Paityn spoke with more confidence than she felt – in reality she had no idea if the teenage superheroes she met were going to try and find her, or even if they were still alive. Paityn looked at Kit, and noticed with surprise that the Asian girls face was full of a darkness Paityn had never seen during the nine years she'd spent with her. Kit looked away, the anger melting out of her. She raised a hand to her face, pressing her fingers to the bridge of her nose.

"Tori…" her voice trailed off. She took a deep breath, and started again. "The reason I stayed…it wasn't really because I was scared. I – I mean, I _was,_ but I was mostly afraid that I'd lose control of my powers." Kit clenched a fist. "They're so sporadic…at least here I'm safe from other people." Anger rose in Paityn's chest.

"That's what they're _telling_ you!" She snapped. "Kit, please. I never should have left you here in the first place. The place that rescued me, A.R.G.U.S., it's not perfect, but it can help. It'll help you control your powers, and in payment you just have to serve them for, well, for a while. But after that, you and I, we can go somewhere and live together, as normally as possible. Away from Cadmus." Paityn knew she was laying it on a little thick, but she couldn't help it. Kit had been her only friend for the first nine years of her life – it was only natural that she'd be a little attached to her. Kit stared at Paityn. She was chewing on her lower lip, her expression thoughtful.

"Tori, I…" Kit froze. "Do you hear that?" Paityn listened. Her sharp ears picked up the sound of someone crawling above her. The movement stopped, but Paityn could hear someone fiddling with the air vent in her room. The screen popped off, and Robin hung his head down, smirking at her mischievously.

"Hey Paityn," he said. "Ready to bust out of this place?" He spotted Kit behind Paityn, and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Your friend's cool, right? She won't rat us out?" Paityn looked at Kit, whose eyes were full of shock.

"You – you have a name?" Kit asked in marvel. Paityn nodded.

"Last chance, Kit. You coming?" Paityn asked, walking backwards towards the vent. Robin moved so she could jump up. Kit stared at the locked door, and her eyes narrowed with resolve. She nodded once, sharply, and looked up.

"Let's go before I lose my nerve." Paityn grinned at her friend, jumping up into the vent.

"Nice to see you again, Paityn," Kid Flash greeted her. He noticed Kit and smirked. "Who's your hot friend?" Paityn rolled her eyes and made very fast introductions between the five teenagers who had never met before.

"An just so you know, _Kid Flash_ , the next time you hit on me, I will be hitting on you in a very different way." Kit warned the speedster, facing forward again. Kid Flash grinned, and turned forward as well. "Good to know," he said. The six teens started moving again, following the air vent a little further before Robin stopped them.

"Here." The ragtag team dropped to the ground one after another, and Robin immediately crouched by a row of panels where the floor met the wall. He removed on of them and began typing on his holographic glove.

"Um…what are you doing?" Paityn asked him. He looked up at her, grinning. "I hacked the motion sensors." Paityn laughed. "Still plenty of them between us and out," he reminded the group, getting to his feet. Kid Flash shrugged, a cheeky grin on his face as he lowered his goggles over his eyes.

"Well, at least I have room to move!" Paityn stretched out her wings, shaking them slightly.

"Second the motion," she said, taking to the air. She flew behind Kid Flash. She couldn't go as fast as he could, of course, but she was still much faster than the other teens. Paityn and the speedster zoomed up several flights of stairs with no problems, but after a few moments ran into some trouble. Her eyes widened as several Genomorphs sprinted towards them from a couple flights up. "Kid!" She called as a warning.

"I see them!" The yellow clad teen turned his shoulder slightly, knocking the Genomorphs aside in one quick move. One of them leapt up, sinking its claws into Paityn's clothes and climbing up her leg. The blonde's eyes widened and she yelped in pain as claws sunk into her calf.

"Uh-uh, no hitchhikers!" She swung around, kicking her leg out and sending the Genomorph flying into a wall.

"There's more behind us!" Paityn heard Kit yell a warning to the others. Paityn glanced back to make sure that the others were keeping up, a little concerned that they were going to be overwhelmed. Once she saw they were handling themselves just fine, she picked up speed again. She and Kid Flash reached the ground level first, just in time to see the door to outside closing rapidly. The alarm in the long hall was blaring loudly, the emergency lights giving the facility a red glow.

"Aw, crap," Kid Flash muttered. At first he tried to pick up speed, but halfway there realized his efforts were fruitless. He stopped running, sliding his feet in an attempt to cause enough resistance to slow down and stop completely. He was just a little too late, and banged headfirst into the hard door. Paityn landed next to him, eyebrows furrowed with concern.

"We're cut off from the street," she announced to their arriving teammates. Kid Flash groaned from below her, rubbing the place where he'd whacked his forehead. "Thanks, my head hadn't noticed," he muttered sarcastically, sitting up. Superboy stepped over Kid Flash's prone body easily, slamming his fists into the wall, and then trying to pry the door open. Aqualad quickly moved to join him, each superpowered teen tugging on one side of the door as Robin began trying to bypass the lock on the door.

"I can't hack this fast enough!" he warned his teammates. Kit looked around, and saw a few of the huge G-Trolls coming towards them. She spun around, kicking open a door on her right.

"Quickly, this way!" She called, leading the over five away from the Genomorphs. As they came into the intersection of two hallways, more Genomorphs came from every direction, including behind them. They were completely surrounded. Paityn's heart hammered, but she instinctively sank into a battle stance, pulling out her staff as the other teens readied themselves for a fight as well. One of the G-Gnomes sitting on the shoulder of a G-Troll horns glowed scarlet, setting of a chain reaction. Paityn's felt her hands unwillingly go lax around her weapon, and she fell to her knees, eyes closing.

 _"Perhaps for the sake of all Genomorphs, our siblings should make up their own minds."_ Paityn's eyes flew open. She looked around, noticing that although Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Robin were still on the ground, unconscious, Kit and Superboy's eyes were open.

 _"It was you,_ " Superboy's voice rang through her mind, making her flinch. Telepathic links were weird.

" _What was who?"_ Kit asked, rubbing her head. " _This is weird."_

" _Yes, brother,_ " the humanoid Genomorph ignored Kit, " _I set the fire that lured your new friends down into Cadmus, and woke them when they were in danger."_

 _"You – you guided me. You led me to Paityn and Kit so we could all escape together."_ Superboy's shock was evident, and Paityn was surprised as well. This Genomorph was letting them escape?

" _Why would you do this?"_ Paityn asked. " _Why help us?"_ The tall Genomorph stared at her, his expression level.

" _Because you three are our hope. The heroes of the Genomorphs – you three will blaze a trail for all of us. You will show us the way to freedom."_ Throughout this whole telepathic exchange, Guardian had stood there, completely expressionless. When G-Gnome perched on his shoulder hopped off, Guardian frowned, lifting a hand to his head, confusion washing over his face.

"What's going on?" the gold armored hero wondered aloud. "What's happening?" Aqualad was slowly waking, pushing himself into a seated position. The humanoid Genomorph took no notice to any of this, still staring at the three teens that had been projects of the company he worked for.

" _What are your choices?"_ his words were full of an intensity that Paityn had never heard from any Genomorph before.

"I choose freedom," Superboy said, expression hard. Paityn nodded. "Definitely didn't come back to this place to stay. I'm with Superboy," The blonde teen said. Both of them looked at Kit. She nodded her head.

"I'm ready to see the world," she whispered. "It's been so long." The tall Genomorph inclined his head slightly. His horns glowed once more, and the inhibitor collar around Kit's neck opened and fell to the ground, making her first flinch in shock and then grin. The makeshift team rose to their feet, wary of an attack. Guardian was still coming to his senses, but when he opened his eyes, Paityn could tell that he was there as himself, not being mind controlled.

"Guardian?" Aqualad asked. The older hero nodded once. "Go," he told them, determination and anger lacing his voice. "I'll deal with Desmond."

"I think not," a voice snarled from behind the wall of Genomorphs. The genetically enhanced creatures parted, revealing Desmond. His eyes were full of a manic anger. He brandished a beaker full of a glowing blue liquid. "Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus." At that proclamation, Desmond drained the liquid, tossing the beaker aside. It shattered against the ground, but Desmond captivated everyone as he began to convulse and groan in pain. Muscles rose instantaneously on his body, and his skin ripped as it stretched to accommodate them. Instead of blood, however, grey flesh was exposed under the old human skin. The creature stretched to its full height, letting out a roar of pain. It panted, shoulders heaving as it tried to adjust to its new size. Guardian's jaw set with determination.

"Everyone back," he ordered, sweeping a hand towards the teenagers to emphasize his point. He charged forward, only to be immediately knocked aside and into a wall. He fell to the floor, unconscious. Superboy cracked his knuckles and ran towards Desmond, swinging at him. Even as the creature twice his size hit back, Superboy didn't give up, still fighting. Desmond knocked him backwards, towards the ceiling, and then hit him hard, breaking a hole into the ceiling. The other five teens ran over and looked up at the hole, surprised.

"Well, that's one way to break through the ceiling," Robin cracked, pulling out his grappling hook. Kid Flash grabbed onto Robin's sleeve, and both of them rose up.

"You think Desmond planned that?" Paityn asked, spreading her wings. Kit snorted behind her, sinking down into a crouch in order to get enough power to jump up.

"I doubt he's planning anything anymore," Aqualad said, also jumping through the hole. Paityn reached the top floor just in time to see Superboy get knocked back again. This time, instead of a ceiling, he hit Aqualad hard, and the two teenagers went sprawling across the floor. Their four teammates ran after them. Kit turned and narrowed her eyes at Desmond.

"My turn," she said. She spread her arms, and claws popped out from her fingers. When she bared her teeth, her canines had sharpened, turning into real fangs. She jumped up, scratching at Desmond's chest and making him howl in pain before ducking his blow and landing on the ground in a crouch. "You said you wanted to restore order to Cadmus?" She snarled at him. Her eyes were filled with an intense rage that made Paityn flinch. "You forget, Desmond, what you created. I am _Nogitsune_. I _thrive_ off chaos."

"Oohhhkay then," Kid Flash said, staring at Kit with his eyes wide. "Now I know not to get on her bad side." Paityn took to the air, flying towards Desmond's head. She swung her leg in a high kick at him, but he grabbed her foot and threw her backwards. Paityn flapped her wings wildly, and managed to regain stability, only to have Kit immediately thrown directly at her, knocking her into a pillar and cracking it. The two girls fell to the ground, and Kit pulled the blonde to her feet.

"You okay, Tori?" she asked, and Paityn groaned, grabbing her shoulder but nodded. Robin ran over to the two of them.

"Guys, listen. We're gonna bring the building down. Destroy this pillar and that one. We've got the rest. Got it?" Robin spoke in an urgent rush as he pressed some of his charges into Paityn's hands.

"Got it," the girls said in unison. Kit ran over to the nearest pillar that Robin had indicated, and began slamming her fists into it. It took her a little longer than it did Superboy, as she only had enhanced strength, not super strength. Paityn set the charges against the pillar she was responsible for, and moved away before it exploded. Robin was drawing a X on the floor with chalk to mark the spot of the trap, and Aqualad was setting down water to help with the trap. Paityn turned around. She had one of Robin's birdarangs still in her hand. A half-baked idea formed in her head, and Paityn turned around.

"Hey pea brain! Over here!" She flew towards Desmond as he charged at her, ready to curl in on herself and dodge his punch. She ducked his fist, spiraling in midair and steadying herself once she was facing his back. She threw the charge, and the detonation sent him flying forward, straight into Superboy's fist. Superboy knocked Desmond down onto his back so that he landed in the water. The electricity from Aqualad's water bearers sent dangerous shockwaves through Desmond. Robin glanced at his timer.

"Move!" he shouted, just as the explosives on the pillars exploded. Paityn ran after her new friends, knowing that they weren't going to escape the collapsing building. She felt Kit tackle her, covering Paityn's body with her own as the building collapsed around them. Dust rose in her throat and nose, threatening to choke her. After a few moments, the rumbling stopped and the dust began to settle. Superboy took that opportunity to begin to punch his way out of the debris, clearing enough of the rocks so the others could stand. Paityn got to her feet, and turned to look at Kit.

"Thanks," she said, holding her ribcage. Kit smirked at her, ruffling up Paityn's (dirty) blond hair.

"No problem. Got to take care of you delicate folk." She teased her friend. Paityn grinned back at her, the success of the fight making her giddy.

"Oh, I'll _show_ you delicate." All of teenagers were breathing hard, their costumes ripped up and filthy, and faces and arms covered with scrapes and bruises. Paityn couldn't see herself, but she figured she didn't look any better. She watched with mild amusement as Kid Flash and Robin high fived and then winced, grabbing their respective arms.

"See?" The redhead said to Superboy. "The moon!" Kid Flash pointed at the large, shimmering silver orb in the sky. Kit stared at it with the same amount of wonder on her face as Superboy did. As they watched, a shape appeared in the sky and Superboy's eyes widened. "And Superman," Kid Flash said. "Do we keep our promises or what?" Paityn wasn't sure which promises Kid Flash was referring to, but she did know that they were about to be in major trouble. She watched as the entire Justice League showed up, those who couldn't fly being suspended on a platform held by one of the Green Lanterns. The superheroes were all glaring at the five teens. Superboy stepped forward, holding his jumpsuit up so that the whole League could see the red Superman symbol emblazoned on his chest. Superman's eyes widened with shock and…displeasure? Paityn listened as Superboy explained who he was – Superman's clone. When he dropped that bomb on the League, Batman's eyes narrowed.

"Start talking," he ordered them. "Now." With plenty of overlapping and interruption, the five teens recounted their story to the older superheroes. After they had finished, Batman turned, leading the others away to discuss, leaving the teenagers in sullen suspense. After about ten minutes, he and the other mentors came back over.

"Cadmus will be investigated," he assured the team. "All fifty-two levels. But let's make one thing clear –" Here the Flash interrupted him.

"You should have called," he said, staring at Kid Flash with obvious disappointment and annoyance on his face. Batman shot the speedster a displeased look, but didn't say anything to him.

"End results aside, we are _not happy,_ " Batman said, a harder edge to his voice. "You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives. You even involved a civilian!" The last sentence was emphasized by a look at Paityn.

"Oh, no," Paityn said. "Involved…that was mostly my doing, don't blame them. And civilian…" Paityn brought attention to her wings by spreading them. She smirked at their shocked expressions. "Not a civilian."

"Wings?" The Flash noted, surprise coloring his voice. "Are you Thanagarian?" Paityn shook her head, but didn't bother to clarify further.

"Regardless, you will not be doing this again." Batman told them flat out. Kit scowled. She had always had a problem with authority figures. As she glanced around she could see that others felt the same way.

"I am sorry," Aqualad told the group of mentors, respectful as always. "But we will." Aquaman stepped forward, frowning at his protégé.

"Aqualad, stand down," he ordered his partner. The dark skinned teen shook his head.

"Apologies, my king, but no," he said, lifting a webbed hand to cover his heart. Aquaman's blue eyes widened, and he raised an eyebrow. Aqualad began to explain. "We did good work here tonight, work you trained us to do, together. On our own, we forged something. Something important." The mentors seemed unwilling to budge on breaking up the six teens.

"If this is about your treatment at the Hall," the Flash started. "The three of you –"

"The _six_ of us," corrected Kid Flash, pointedly, looking at Paityn, Kit, and Superboy. "And it's not." Robin stepped forward, appealing to his mentor.

"Batman, we're ready to use what you taught us," he told his mentor. "Otherwise, why bother?" Paityn looked at Robin, and then at the other teens she'd met. She wanted to defend them.

"Look, I don't know you guys, and I don't know how this works, exactly, but what I do know is that your protégés? They're stronger than you guys realize. If you had seen the way they worked tonight, together, there wouldn't be a doubt in any of your minds about this. " Paityn told the Justice League heroes, staring them straight in the face. Kit nodded in agreement, looking at the four teens she'd just met with respect.

"They escaped Cadmus in hours, something I haven't been able to do in _years._ They – _We_ work well together." Superboy had his arms crossed, and he was staring defiantly at the ground. He was clearly hurt by Superman's awkward rejection to him.

"Why let _them_ tell us what to do?" the blue eyed teen snapped. "It's simple," he continued, uncrossing his arms and stepping forward. "Get on board, or get out of the way." The six teens faced off against the older heroes, defiance evident on their faces. Batman's eyes narrowed thoughtfully, but he didn't speak for a long moment.

"Give me three days," he announced at last, turning to leave.

* * *

 **A.R.G.U.S. HEADQUARTERS**

 **July 5, 03:19**

 _Recognized: Agent Paityn_. _Recognized: Kit, Authorization, Agent Paityn._ The Zeta Tube announced Paityn and Kit's presence at A.R.G.U.S., the mechanical voice echoing through the dimly lit empty halls. Paityn rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. She was exhausted, wanted nothing more than to flop onto her bed and sleep for a week, but she knew she needed to debrief with Amanda. She glanced at Kit. "Come on," Paityn said, sighing a little. The two teenage girls walked towards the same room Paityn had been in the day before. Amanda was standing in the empty room, still looking at the computer as though no time had passed since Paityn had left. Her eyebrows rose when she was the unfamiliar girl behind the blonde teenager.

"And who is this?" Amanda asked, walking towards the girl. Before Paityn said anything, recognition and shock passed over Amanda's face. "Project Fox?" She asked in surprise. She glanced at Paityn, smiling a little. "My dear, you have gone above and beyond this time." Paityn scowled at her.

"Amanda, I did what you asked. I observed and aided the team of Justice League protégés. In doing so, we succeeded in freeing the clone of Superman and Kit, defeating the head scientist of Cadmus. Batman wants three days to decide what is going to happen to our team. But you shouldn't have known any of this was going to happen – a Genomorph said he was responsible for setting the fire and luring us to Superboy and Kit. So, why did you send me there?" Amanda smiled.

"So, you will join this team, should it happen, yes?" Amanda asked, glossing over Paityn's question. Even though she was annoyed that Amanda had ignored her question, Paityn was still surprised.

"You – you'd let me join?" Paityn asked. She glanced at Kit. "Kit would be coming with me." She added quickly, afraid that Amanda was going to take Kit and let Paityn go.

"Of course," Amanda said. "I think it's time to mend fences with the Justice League, after all." Her words were friendly enough, but Paityn felt uneasy. Amanda was a stubborn person, and it had been her doing years ago that started the iciness between the League and A.R.G.U.S.. If Amanda wanted to repair relations with the League, Paityn feared what she wanted in return.

* * *

 **MOUNT JUSTICE**

 **July 8, 08:04 EDT**

Paityn was standing in a huge room, watching as different members of the League flew around, carrying in supplies. The walls of the room were slanted in to high arches, because it was inside a mountain. The other four members of the ragtag team they'd made up were also there. All of them had dressed in civvies, and she noticed in amusement that Superboy was wearing a black shirt with the Superman logo on it, and that Robin had dark glasses on, blocking his eyes from any of his friends.

"This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League," Batman was telling them. "We're calling it into service again," he added, turning towards the six teens. "Since you six are determined to stay together and fight the good fight, you will do it on League terms. Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor, and Black Canary is in charge of training. I will deploy you on missions."

"Wait, like, real missions?" Kit asked, eyes sparkling. Batman leveled her with a stare.

"Yes, but covert," he reminded them. Paityn grinned. Knowing them, she guessed most of the covert missions would end up being less covert than the League hoped. Of course, she kept this to herself, unwilling to either get on Batman's bad side or ruin their opportunity at striking out on their own.

"The League will handle the obvious stuff," the Flash told the Team from behind Kid Flash's shoulder. "That's why we got these targets on our chests," he added, tapping the lightning bolt logo emblazoned on the front of his costume.

"But Cadmus proves that the bad guys are getting smarter," Aquaman said. "Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly." Paityn grinned, looking at Kit with excitement. Paityn had been part of a team before, but that had been different for a multitude of reasons. She was looking forward to this one.

"The seven of you will be that team," Batman promised them.

"Cool!" Robin said, grinning widely. Then his brain caught up to his mouth and he frowned. "Wait, _seven?"_ Paityn heard footsteps approaching behind her and she turned around. Martian Manhunter and a pretty freckled girl with red hair and green skin were walking towards them. She smiled shyly, rubbing her upper arm with her hand. "This is the Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian," Batman told the Team.

"Hi," she offered, waving a little. Kid Flash smirked at her, and then elbowed Robin.

"Liking this gig more and more every second," he whispered, zooming over to the girl. "I'm Kid Flash, that's Robin, Aqualad. It's cool if you forget their names." Paityn rolled her eyes and grinned, walking over as well.

"Nice to meet you," Paityn said, shaking her hand. "I'm Paityn, this is Kit." Miss Martian grinned at them.

"Oh, I'm glad there will be other girls on the Team," she said enthusiastically. Then she blushed, glancing at the boys. "I – I mean, not that I'm sure you guys aren't great, but…" her voice trailed off. "Well, either way, I'm honored to be included," she finished sincerely, clasping her gloved hands together in front of her heart. Five of the teenagers were gathered around Miss Martian, but Superboy hung back, looking at the ground. Robin took notice to this.

"Hey, Superboy! Come meet Miss M!" Superboy walked over to join his friends. When he did, Miss Martian shifted her clothes so that her shirt resembled Superboy's slightly.

"I…like your t-shirt," she offered, smiling at him bashfully. His lips turned up ever so slightly from his usual stoic expression. Robin elbowed him playfully, and Kid Flash slung an arm over his shoulders. Paityn laughed a little, glancing at Kit and Aqualad. Aqualad smiled back at her. "Today, is the day," the Atlantian proclaimed. As usual, Paityn didn't see reason to argue with the level minded teenager.

* * *

I am writing this because it is a fun way to improve my writing skills, so please leave a review and tell me what you think/give me feedback on what I can do better. Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice

* * *

 **MOUNT JUSTICE**

 **July 18, 11:16 EDT**

Paityn was standing in the large debriefing room of Mount Justice. Four of her teammates were next to her – Aqualad, Superboy, Kit, and Miss Martian. Kit had chosen to live in the Cave instead of at A.R.G.U.S. headquarters with Paityn, and Paityn couldn't blame her. The well lit and roomy Cave, especially with the company of two friends – even if one of them was a sullen clone – beat the cold, impersonal halls of A.R.G.U.S. any day. The five teens were eagerly watching the holographic screen relay information from news channels, police radios, Justice League systems, and, what the five teens were currently interested in, the whereabouts of Red Tornado. The flashing icon with his name and picture was moving closer to their location very swiftly.

 _Recognized: Robin, B-01; Kid Flash, B-03,_ the computerized voice droned as it announced the prescience of their missing teammates. Paityn glanced behind her, squinting slightly against the bright light emitting from the Zeta Tube, and saw Kid Flash and Robin running up to the rest of the Team, eager expressions plastered on their faces. "Did you ask him?" Robin called as he ran up behind them.

"Yeah, what did he say?" Kid Flash asked impatiently. Aqualad turned towards his old friends. As usual, the dark skinned teen had a calm expression on his face, but excitement gleamed in his pale eyes as he spoke: "He is arriving now." Kid Flash grinned in response, pumping his fist.

"Then what are we waiting for?" He called rhetorically as he ran off to greet the andriod. Paityn laughed, following the redhead. She could hear the footsteps of her other teammates right behind her, indicating that all of them had followed. As they approached the other side of the cave, Paityn frowned. It seemed that they had reached a dead-end.

"Um, guys –" she began, before her mouth dropped open with shock. The paneled wall began dropping down, revealing an exit to outside the mountain. "Okay then." She walked up the grassy slope, shading her eyes against the sun to see Red Tornado began his descent.

"Red Tornado!" Kid Flash called, waving his arm wildly. The android landed, surveying the Team.

"Greetings," he said. "Is there a reason you intercept me outside the cave?" Aqualad stepped forward, spreading his hands.

"We hoped you had a mission for us," he explained earnestly.

"Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility," Red Tornado reminded the Team.

"Yeah, but Batman isn't here right now, and you are." Paityn said fervently. "We thought we'd ask you."

"And anyways, it's been over a week!" Robin added, trying to emphasize their point. "Nothing has –" Red Tornado cut off the raven teen by raising a hand.

"You will be tested soon enough," he told them. "For the time being, simply enjoy each others company." Kit cocked an eyebrow, scoffing.

"Enjoy each others _company_? We're supposed to be a _covert spying team_ not a social club to make friends," she snapped at Red Tornado, clearly peeved. Paityn elbowed her friend, scowling at her. Kit winced, realizing her tone of voice. "Um, no offense, sir." Red Tornado inclined his head slightly towards Kit.

"You are correct. But I am told that social interaction is an important team building exercise. Perhaps you can keep busy by familiarizing yourself with the Cave," the andriod said dismissively as he passed the Team. Paityn raised her eyebrows. _Keep busy?_ She could hear Kid Flash echoing her complaint out loud, hitting Robin on the shoulder and giving him a pointed look Paityn didn't understand.

"Does he think we're falling for this?" Robin snapped, incredulous. Miss Martian, who had been quiet during their whole exchange, eagerly raised her fists.

"Ooh, I'll find out!" She said, clearly excited to be able to contribute. The green girl turned around, narrowing her eyes in concentration. A moment passed, and then she dropped her gaze, sighing in disappointment. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot. He's a machine. Inorganic – I cannot read his mind." Paityn smiled gently at the girl.

"It's okay, it doesn't really matter." Kid Flash agreed with her, leaning in towards Miss Martian flirtatiously.

"It was a nice try anyways," he said, purposely lowering his voice to make it sound huskier. "So, uh, you know what I'm thinking right now?" He asked her, widening his bright green eyes innocently. Kit laughed.

"Kid, we all know what you're thinking. And you want to know what I'm thinking? How bad you're gonna strike out with Miss M." Kid Flash straightened up, scowling at the Asian girl.

"Hey!" he protested indignantly. Robin cackled in delight, elbowing his friend. Aqualad frowned at the ground.

"And now we tour the clubhouse," he said darkly. Miss Martian looked at him, a hopeful expression on her face.

"Well, Superboy, Kit and I live here. We could play tour guides!" She suggested, trying to soothe the disappointment of the older teen. Everyone turned to Superboy, whose eyes widened.

"Don't look at me," he said, gruffly. Kid Flash shrugged, turning back to Miss M.

"We won't!" He said cheerfully. "A private tour sounds _much_ more fun." Paityn rolled her eyes. Now she was really starting to get annoyed. She drove her elbow into Kid Flash's ribcage, snickering when he gasped in pain.

"She never said private, idiot." Aqualad nodded in agreement.

"Team building," he said decisively. "We'll all go." Miss Martian smiled and began the tour, leading the rest of the teens through the large cave. Paityn listened, only half-interested in the tour as her friends began to throw out facts about the Cave – how it was made and why the Justice League left.

"They traded it in for a tourist trap?" Superboy asked, referring to the Hall of Justice. "Yeah, that makes sense." Paityn shrugged, looking at the tall teen.

"Well, the Hall of Justice isn't really the –" she began to explain when Kid Flash shot her a look, shaking his head. Paityn shut her mouth instantly, silently cursing herself. _Duh, it's a secret, Paityn,_ she scolded herself. Superboy was looking at her curiously, but before he could say anything, Miss Martian drew the attention away from her.

"If the villains know about the Cave, then we must be on constant alert!" She announced. Robin grabbed her hand, smiling at her. Clearly, his annoyance at Kid Flash's flirting was jealousy - it seemed that Robin was enamored to Miss Martian as well.

"The bad guys know we know they know about the place, so they'd never think to look here," he reassured her, patting her hands. Miss Martian's eyebrows creased in confusion, and Kid Flash stepped forward, breaking apart their hands.

"Uh, we're hiding in plain sight," he clarified. Kit laughed, and Miss Martian nodded.

"Ah, that's much clearer," she admitted a little sheepishly, scratching her head. Kit sniffed the air, frowning.

"Hey, what's that smell?" Superboy mimicked her.

"Smoke," the clone announced, completely deadpan. Miss Martian's reaction was much less calm. She gasped, and whirled around.

"My cookies!" She cried urgently, flying down the hallway towards the kitchen. Paityn looked at the others, shrugged, and followed the Martian girl. As they got closer to the kitchen, the smell of smoke became much more potent, making Paityn wrinkle her nose. Miss Martian was looking forlornly at the tray of blackened cookies, which were so charred that they resembled pieces of charcoal more than they did cookies. "I was trying out Grammy Jones' recipe from episode seventeen of – " she cut herself off, cheeks coloring slightly. "Uh, never mind!" Kid Flash picked up one of the cookies, inspected it briefly and popped it in his mouth. Kit smiled at Miss Martian.

"I'm sure they would have been awesome." Robin laughed a little and nodded in agreement.

"Anyways, he doesn't seem to mind." Paityn redirected her attention back to the redhead, who was stuffing himself with the cookies. He froze when he noticed all the eyes on him and shrugged blushingly.

"Uh, I have a serious metabolism," he murmured around a mouthful of the overcooked pastry. Miss Martian looked torn between confusion and pleasure at his liking her cookies.

"Um, I'll make more?" It sounded more like a question than an affirmative statement.

"It was sweet of you to make any," Aqualad reassured the Martian. Miss M smiled at him. "Thanks, Aqualad." Aqualad held up his hand.

"We're off duty," he reminded her. "Call me Kaldur'ahm – actually, my friends call me Kaldur." Kid Flash took a brief break from his snacking to try his luck with Miss Martian one more time.

"I'm Wally. See, I already trust you with my secret ID." Here, Wally cupped his hand around his mouth and began to stage whisper. "Unlike Mr. Dark-Glasses over there – Batman's forbidden the Boy Wonder from telling _anyone_ his real name."Robin scowled at that, but said nothing. Miss Martian grinned.

"Mine's no secret," she said. "It's M'gann M'orzz!" She paused, then added: "But you can call me Megan. It's an Earth name, and I'm on Earth now!" She spread her hands up to the sky at her last proclamation, almost giddy with joy. Paityn couldn't help but to smile at M'gann. Her personality was infectious – she always seemed to be in a good mood.

"Well, obviously, my name's Paityn – I think what I'm more worried about is what you guys will call me on-duty." Paityn said, laughing a little at the irony. Wally stared at her.

"What's wrong with Mockingbird? I mean, isn't that what Cadmus called you?" Paityn froze, and stared at the ground.

"Nothing, I – I mean," she trailed off, trying to explain herself without causing a scene. "I don't know, that name...it just…has a lot of baggage in it for me." She shrugged. "I'll think of something." There was an awkward silence that Kit broke.

"Well, you guys can call me Kitsune or Kit on the field. As for off it…" the Asian girl paused. "Before Cadmus kidnapped me...it was a long time ago, but my name was Akari Kishi. You guys can call me that off-duty." Paityn stared at her friend, surprised. She knew that Kit hadn't been at Cadmus her whole life – just most of it – but she hadn't known that Kit had a real name. As the Team spoke about names and codenames, Superboy had been standing silently, hands shoved deep into his pockets. He walked off with his shoulders slouched slightly. M'gann noticed this, and stared after him. Completely out of the blue, Superboy stiffened and grunted. He stared at M'gann accusingly.

"Get out of my head!" He shouted, grabbing at his temples. Paityn frowned. _What in the world_ – Paityn felt the oddest sensation of probing in her mind, as though someone was poking her inside her brain. It didn't hurt, exactly, but it was a little uncomfortable.

 _"What's wrong? Everyone on Mars communicates telepathically,"_ M'gann said/thought, a hint of confusion and panic edging her voice. Kaldur gripped his head.

"M'gann, stop," he ordered briskly. M'gann's eyes widened at the command and the probing feeling disappeared instantaneously. "Things are different on Earth," Kaldur explained more gently. "Here, your powers are an extreme invasion of privacy." M'gann looked truly shocked. It was clear she'd meant no harm.

"Besides, Cadmus's little psychic G-Gnomes left a bad taste in his brain," Wally said conspiratorially, gesturing to Superboy.

"I didn't mean to –" M'gann began to explain herself, her eyes wide with regret. Superboy cut her off, glaring.

"Just. Stay. Out." He stalked off the sit on the couch to sulk. M'gann looked down, and the other members of the Team watched her sympathetically. After a moment of silence, M'gann looked up and slapped her forehead.

"Hello, Megan!" She said. "I know what we can do!" She flew off. Her friends all looked at one another, a little surprised by the mood swing. Robin shrugged, and they turned to follow. Paityn hung back a little.

"You coming?" She asked Superboy. He stared at her, lips pressed together in a permanent scowl. Paityn sighed and walked over to him. "What did she say to you? Telepathically, I mean." Superboy looked at the ground.

"She said we could find me an Earth name," he sad, voice gruff. Paityn put her hand on his shoulder. The clone looked at her hand and the up at her. His glare was still firmly in place, but that didn't deter her. Paityn hadn't forgotten the silent promise she'd made to Superboy to help him adjust, even if he didn't know she'd made it.

"Superboy, M'gann is right. A name is important. It gives you an identity, something other than what Cadmus built. And in the meantime – you could be a bit nicer to M'gann. She's only trying to be friendly." Superboy looked at her. His blue eyes were guarded from all emotion.

"Superboy, Paityn – are you guys coming?" M'gann poked her head back into the TV room, looking at them hopefully.

"We're coming," Paityn said, standing up from where she'd been sitting on the armrest. When Superboy didn't move immediately, she tugged on the boy's jacket sleeve the way a little kid would to their parent. "Superboy, let's go." The clone sighed and stood up, following the two girls. M'gann beamed and led them into the hanger, which was on the bay side of the Cave. A red and black egg shaped blob was resting directly in front of them.

"It's my Martian BioShip!" M'gann announced. Paityn looked at it skeptically. She didn't see much of a ship.

"Cute," Wally offered. "Not aerodynamic, but cute." M'gann laughed, even though Wally had sounded mildly condescending.

"It's at rest, silly. I'll wake it!" M'gann waved her hand, and the BioShip responded immediately. It grew and stretched into something that looked less like a blob and more like a ship. She moved her hand again, and the ship rotated so its back was facing them. A door opened and a ramp descended automatically. M'gann took a few steps, and then turned around. "Well? Are you coming?"

"Are you kidding me?" Paityn freaked out. "This is so awesome!" She flew forward up the ramp and into the ship. She could hear the others laughing at her but she didn't really care. As M'gann entered the cockpit of the ship, chairs formed out of nothing. Seatbelts automatically strapped across the teenagers chests as the sat down. Paityn was sitting in the front between Kaldur and Superboy, and the others were behind them with a few feet of space in between. M'gann was seating at the helm of the ship, and she placed either hand on a glowing orb.

"Red Tornado, please open bay doors," she announced. The doors slid open on her request and M'gann took off. As they zoomed into the air, she commanded the ship to so a smooth twirl, turning them upside down.

"Incredible!" Robin marveled, staring out the window. Wally sighed dreamily from across the ship.

"She sure is," he murmured, staring longingly at M'gann. When she looked at him, his eyes widened and he corrected himself. "I mean, the ship. Which, like all ships, is a she." He crossed his arms, averting his eyes from M'gann. Akari barked out a laugh.

"Smooth, Kid Idiot," she teased, her fox eyes gleaming with mischief.

"Fast with his feet, not so much with his mouth," Robin joked, making everyone but Wally laugh. Paityn noticed Kaldur leaning over to Superboy and talking to him quietly. M'gann clearly noticed too, for she looked down, looking a little sad. Robin leaned closer to her the best he could while strapped into his seat.

"He'll come around, don't worry," Robin assured the green-skinned teen. M'gann shrugged her shoulders.

"He doesn't seem to like me very much," she said worriedly. She glanced at Akari. "You and Paityn were in Cadmus too," she said. "Do my telepathic powers bother you the same way?" Akari shrugged a little.

"Honestly? I didn't love it – but I don't think I hated it as much as Superboy did. The G-Gnomes weren't really as involved with me as they were with Superboy. But even so, he's being an asshole right now, ignore him." Superboy's shoulders tensed slightly and Paityn glared at her friend from over her shoulder. _Shut up,_ she mouthed, feeling the need to defend Superboy even if he was, in truth, being a bit of a jerk.

"Yeah, you guys _do_ remember he has super hearing, right?" Wally asked. Akari and M'gann looked at Superboy, but he was staring resolutely forward.

"Hey," Robin said, breaking the awkward silence. "How about you show us a little Martian shape-shifting?" M'gann smiled a little, and stood up. She shifted into a nearly flawless version of Akari, then into feminine-looking versions of Robin and Kid Flash.

"Is it wrong that I think I'm hot?" Kid Flash asked, staring at M'gann.

"Very," Akari told him. "But beyond that, M'gann, you're not exactly going to fool anyone with those of the boys." M'gann nodded and sat down again.

"Mimicking boys is a lot harder," she explained.

"I know what you mean," Paityn said. "When I was learning how to mimic voices, boys took me forever to learn. But I'm much better now."

"You can mimic voices?" Robin asked. Instead of responding normally, with a yes or no, Paityn repeated his sentence.

"You can mimic voices?" She asked, in a dead-on replica of Robin's voice.

"Woah," he said, laughing a little. "That is so cool. Why didn't you say anything before?" Paityn shrugged.

"Wasn't exactly relevant. And, I mean, it's a cool party trick, sure, but I'm not exactly going to win a fight by mimicking someone to unconsciousness." She pointed out, smiling. Robin laughed again.

"Fair enough." He paused and then added more softly so that the others wouldn't overhear. "By the way, about what Kid Flash said earlier, I think Mockingbird is a good code name. You said it had baggage for you, but when I started out, the name Robin had a lot of baggage for me. You should try it – you know, you could reclaim it a little?" Paityn stared at him. Despite Robin having a lot of experience on the field, she had kind of assumed that he'd be nothing but a jokester off of it. It turned out that she was wrong. She smiled at him.

"Maybe you're right. I'll think about it." She turned her attention back to the others.

"Can you do that cool ghosting through walls thing that Manhunter does?" Wally was asking M'gann.

"Density shifting?" She asked, turning to him. "No…it's a very advanced technique." She seemed a little disappointed as she said this, so Robin decided to comfort her.

"Flash can vibrate is molecules through walls," he told M'gann. "When he tries," Robin gestured to Wally, chuckling. "Bloody nose." Wally's eyes widened and he stared at his best friend in betrayal.

"Dude!" Robin just snickered. Aqualad was looking at Akari with interest.

"While we are on the topic, Akari…what was that when you attacked Desmond? You called yourself a…Nogitsune?" Akari grimaced slightly.

"Yeah…Kitsune are the 'mythical' Japanese fox spirits. There are thirteen different types of Kitsune, all with varying powers and abilities. Cadmus used a weird mixture of science and magic to possess me with a spirit of a Dark Kitsune, also called Nogitsune." Akari looked at the ground. "Kitsune are always tricksters…but Nogitsune are generally considered to be more malicious than just mischievous." She looked at her hands folded in her lap as she said that. "My powers were… capricious. Cadmus helped me learn to control them, if that's the only good thing they ever did." She looked up at her friends. It was clear she didn't want to say more about why her powers were unpredictable, and no one pressed her further on the topic.

"What about the eyes?" Wally asked her.

"Oh," Akari laughed. "That. Well, technically this human form isn't my true form. Really, my true form is a glowing ball about," Akari cupped her hands in a small circle. "This big. It's called a star ball." She snickered, enjoying the shocked looks on her new friends' faces. "A fox is the next easiest form to assume, but Cadmus forced me to appear as human for so long that now it's the most comfortable. When a Kitsune is in human form, they almost always have a mark that identifies them as not human. Mine are my eyes."

 _"Red Tornado to Miss Martian,"_ the andriod interrupted their conversation. _"An emergency alert has been triggered at the Happy Harbor Power Plant. I suggest you investigate – covertly. I am sending coordinates."_

"Received," M'gann affirmed. "Adjusting course." Robin scoffed doubtfully.

"Tornado's keeping us busy again," he said darkly. Paityn looked at Robin.

"You guys went to Cadmus to investigate a fire, and now look where we are. We should at least see what caused the alert."

"I think I see our cause," Superboy said, looking out the window. The others followed his gaze. A twister was whipping its way towards the BioShip at rapid speeds. Before they could react, it engulfed the BioShip, making the ship spin wildly. Paityn squeezed her eyes shut, her stomach flip-flopping around with the rapid movement. After a couple minutes of the torture, she felt the ship straighten out and glide more smoothly out of the twister. M'gann piloted the BioShip until it was hovering a few feet of the ground. She opened up a hatch in the floor and the seven teens dropped out. They watched in horror as a huge twister tore up the parking lot, sending terrified people scrambling every which way.

"Robin, are tornadoes common to New England?" Kaldur called out. No response. Kaldur turned around. "Robin!" There was an empty space where the younger teen had stood just moments before. As if on cue, a creepy, slightly childish laugh echoed out over the parking lot. It was unmistakably Robin.

"He was just here!" M'gann exclaimed, confused. Paityn watched as windows in the big building across the lot blew out. She spread her wings, flying towards the source of the twister. Robin was lying on the ground, just beginning to push himself up when she arrived with the rest of the Team.

"Who's your new friend?" Superboy asked sarcastically as he landed next to Robin.

"Didn't catch his name, but he plays kind of rough!" Robin yelled back. Paityn took stock of the situation. A robot stood about fifteen feet away. It was red and black with blue glowing tubes on its back. A scarf covered the bottom half of its face and his neck.

"My apologies," the voice of the android was male. "You may address me as Mister Twister." With that, he began to blast torrents of rough wind at Superboy, who was charging towards him. Superboy braced his feet in vain, attempting to hold his ground. The winds were too strong and he slammed against the wall, causing a dent. Paityn knelt down to help Robin to his feet. He leaned on her gratefully, but straightened up once they were standing.

On unspoken agreement, the six teens still standing charged forward. Paityn was slightly better armed now than she had been for Cadmus, meaning that she had two guns strapped into the jacket and her staff, but she still wished that she had packed more defense. She spread her wings, beating them hard in order to give her an edge against the wind blowing hard in her direction. She cocked one of her guns and began to shoot rapidly at Mister Twister. The bullets pinged off the metal on his chest harmlessly, and he laughed.

"That's all you got?" he asked contemptuously. He grabbed her feet and swung her upside down. Paityn grunted, swinging herself side to side fruitlessly. She punched his metal fist rapidly several times in a row before realizing that she was doing more harm to her knuckles than she was to him. He tossed her aside and blasted a tornado at her, making it impossible for her to fly straight. She fell to the ground and groaned in pain. When she looked up she could see that her friends weren't faring any better than she.

"I was prepared to be challenged by a superhero. I was not, however, expecting children." Robin threw to explosive birdarangs at Twister.

"We're _not_ children!" he shouted angrily. Neither explosive had any effect, one detonating before it reached Twister and the other the andriod flicked aside easily.

"Objectively you are," he disagreed. "Have you no adult supervision?" He taunted them. "I find your presence here quite…disturbing." Paityn slowly got to her feet, rubbing her shoulder were she'd banged it when she'd hit the ground.

"Well, I hate to see you _disturbed_ ," Robin told the villain. "Let's see if you're more _turbed_ once we kick your can!" M'gann pointed at a pipe above Mister Twister's head. She made a pulling motion with her hands and it exploded, spewing smoke all over the andriod. Using the smoke as a cover, Superboy launched himself in the air, raising a fist to smash Twister's head. Unfortunately, the smoke cleared just a few seconds too soon and gave away Superboy's position. Twister raised his large hands and blasted wind at the clone, effectively stopping Superboy's attack. He hit M'gann as he flew backwards, and Paityn just narrowly avoided the two of them. She swooped in, trying to come up from the side so that Twister wouldn't see her, but it didn't work. He plucked Akari from the ground seconds before she slammed her fist into his side and tossed her directly at Paityn, and the gust of wind sent them crashing to the ground.

"You're not very good at this whole flying thing, are you?" Akari muttered as Paityn shoved her off. "I mean, no offense, but you fall a lot." Paityn glared at her friend.

"Yeah, 'cause _someone_ keeps getting thrown into me!" Akari rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Indeed," Twister droned. "That was quite turbing. Thank you." He flew out of the doors into the parking lot. Paityn got to her feet, and even though she was a little annoyed at Akari, helped her up as well. The six teens followed Twister out into the parking lot just in time to see Wally get thrown through the air. M'gann raised her hand to stop his fall, keeping him suspended in mid-air. He clearly didn't notice, as he was curled in a fetal position, waiting for the impact.

"I've got you, Wally," the Martian girl called.

"Huh?" the redheaded teen looked around. "Oh, cool. Thanks!" M'gann dropped him and Wally landed neatly on his feet.

"I would have though you all would have learned your limitations by now," Twister said. If a robot could sound amused, he did. He was hovering about fifteen feet above them, looking down. Kaldur scowled, stepping forward.

"What do you want?" he demanded to know. The robot laughed, flying higher into the air.

"Isn't it obvious?" He asked, spreading his hands. "I'm waiting for a _real_ hero." Kaldur shook his head, displeased with the answer. He looked at M'gann.

"Read his mind," he commanded. "Find a weakness."M'gann stared back at him, confused.

"I thought I wasn't supposed to do that!" She protested.

"To us, M'gann," Paityn said. "It's okay with the bad guys!" M'gann nodded sharply and pressed two fingers to her temple, pressing her eyes shut in concentration.

"Nothing, I'm getting nothing!" She exclaimed in face palmed again, the confusion clearing from her face. " _Hello_ , Megan! Mister Twister is Red Tornado in disguise! He's inorganic, an android! And how many androids do you know that can generate tornados?" She sounded pretty pleased with herself, but the other members of the Team clearly didn't share her enthusiasm.

"Red Tornado _sent_ us here!" Kaldur said, clearly upset.

"After saying we'd be tested _'soon enough,_ '" Robin quoted. "This is his test. Something to keep us _busy_ ," Robin said coldly.

"Speedy was right," Wally said, sounding disappointed. "We're a joke." Paityn frowned. If M'gann was right, then she would be pretty annoyed as well, but something about this assumption didn't quite sit right with her.

"Guys –" she began, but was cut off by the normally calm Atlantian slamming his fist into his hand in anger.

"This game?" Wally said, following Kaldur to move closer to Twister. " _So_ over." Robin pointed at Mister Twister accusingly.

"We know who you are, and what you want!" Robin told him.

"So let's end this!" Kaldur suggested, spreading his android leaned forward threateningly.

"Consider it ended." He raised both hands skyward, and tornados spiraled out of his hands. They were initially small, but grew in size until he created a huge black storm cloud.

"An impressive show, but we will not indulge you. We will _not_ engage!" Kaldur warned the andriod. Lightning began to crackle in the storm clouds, arching across the sky. Paityn's eyes widened.

"Um, guys? I haven't known Red Tornado as long as you, but I'm pretty sure he can't do _that_."

"You think I'm Tornado?" Twister laughed. "Ironic." With that, he directed a lightning blast at the ground, sending all seven teens flying back. Paityn rolled over, trying to get back up, but her muscles felt like jelly. She could see Twister flying closer towards them, and she knew that she and her friends were in danger. She shifted up, pulling out her other gun, but before she could do anything, Twister stopped.

"Fine, then. I won't deny you children have power, but playing hide and seek with you will not help me achieve my objectives. So stay concealed!" Paityn tilted her head in confusion. She glanced at M'gann, who raised a finger to her lips in warning. When Wally woke up and began to groan, M'gann covered his mouth with her hand. "If you confront me again, I will show no mercy." Leaving his warning hanging in the air, Twister turned around and flew off towards the bay. Once he was safely at of range, everyone sat up.

"M'gann, what did you do?" Paityn asked, still confused. "Why couldn't he see us?"

"I placed the BioShip between us," M'gann explained and Paityn's lips parted in a small, silent _oh_. Superboy wacked a rock, making it crumble loudly. He shouted in anger, whirling on M'gann furiously.

"And that's supposed to make it right? You tricked us into thinking that Twister was Red Tornado!" Akari stood up, placing a hand on the clone's chest.

"Superboy, she didn't trick us. She's just new to this – it was a mistake."

"Yeah, a rookie mistake," Robin agreed. "We shouldn't have listened." Paityn watched sympathetically as M'gann's face fell.

"You are pretty inexperienced," Wally told her, hands shoved in his pockets. He shrugged. "Hit the showers. We'll take it from here." And, as if that wasn't clear enough, Superboy felt the need to yell at her further.

"Stay out of our way." Superboy, Robin, and Wally ran off, Akari following them closely. Paityn stood up, rubbing the back of her neck.

"I was just…trying to be part of the Team," she said, crestfallen. Aqualad sighed and shook his head.

"To be honest, I'm not sure we have much of a team," he admitted, before following his friends. Paityn hesitated a second longer.

"M'gann, don't worry about. We all make mistakes. And besides, you saved us in the end." M'gann nodded but didn't say anything. Paityn sighed, rubbing her jaw. "W – well, I got to go, I guess…I'm sorry," she added quickly before she flew off to join the rest of the Team. Paityn couldn't help but to feel really bad for M'gann, but she knew the others needed all the help they could get. Sure enough, when she reached the harbor, total chaos had risen. Car alarms were blaring and people were screaming, and all the excess noise was making Paityn's sensitive ears ring. Small tornados whipped around, leveling buildings and destroying roads. The sun had started to set, giving the harbor an orange-y pinkish glow that would have been pretty if not for the current situation.

Paityn and the rest of the Team were trying their best to launch a cohesive attack, but it was difficult because of the lack of communication. Twister's winds were very powerful which made it difficult for Superboy, Kaldur or Akari, their heavy hitters, to land an affective attack. Even Wally wasn't fast enough to beat the winds, and Robin and Paityn's long-range weapons were next to useless. Paityn was crouched behind a piece of debris with Wally and Robin when she felt the probing in her mind again.

 _"Listen to me,"_ it was M'gann's voice echoing in their heads. _"All of you."_

"What did we tell you?" Superboy yelled aggressively at the sky.

 _"I know, and I know I messed up,"_ M'gann said. _"But now I'm very clear on what we need to do. Please, trust me."_ M'gann laid out her plan for them and Paityn couldn't stop the smile from spreading over her face.

" _Sounds good to me,"_ she thought. Akari grinned from beside her.

 _"Ditto. I do love my tricks."_ After only a few moments, M'gann disguised as a perfect Red Tornado descended from the sky. Twister lowered his arms in anticipation.

"Hit the showers, boys and girls," 'Red Tornado' droned. "I was hoping you could handle this. Clearly, you cannot."

"But we've got a plan now!" Robin protested.

"The subject is not up for debate," 'Tornado' told the Team. Without more argument, the teens moved off to their designated positions.

"I was beginning to believe you'd never show up!" Twister called to 'Red Tornado.'

"I'm here now!" He replied, raising a twister. It lacked its usual red coloration, because it was really Wally running in very fast circles on cue. Twister created his own tornado and both of them dissipated upon collision. "We are evenly matched, Twister!" 'Tornado' called. He created another spiral of wind.

"No, Tornado, we are not!" Twister shouted. He punched the ground and then blasted electricity at M'gann as Tornado. 'Tornado' dodged the lightning at first, but then pretended to be hit by it and fell to the ground. Twister flew over to 'Tornado's' prone body.

"Remain still, android," Twister said. Wires sprouted from his fingertips and plugged themselves into 'Tornado's' head. "This reprogramming won't take long." After a moment of pretending, M'gann reached up and pulled the wires out, revealing her real face.

"Longer than you may think," she said sweetly.

"No," Twister said shell-shocked, trying to pull out of M'gann's grasp. He succeeded, only to be hit by Wally in twister form again, sending him straight up in the air towards Paityn.

"Sucks getting caught in a twister, doesn't it?" She asked, spinning him around and throwing him towards the ground. Superboy and Akari ran up as Twister hit the ground. Each of them grabbed an arm to hold him in place and began punching with their free hand. Superboy's final punch hit the android towards the water where Kaldur was waiting to swing. When Twister was thrown out of the water again, M'gann caught him in the air and used her telekinesis to pull his arms off. She held him steady as a target for Robin. He threw two explosives at the android, which hit him dead in the chest. The detonation knocked him to the ground one final time.

"Nice shot!" Paityn said appreciatively. Robin grinned at her.

"Thanks!" He frowned all of the sudden. "Hey - are your hands okay?" Paityn looked down at her hands. Her knuckles were split and bruised from her attempts at punching Twister.

"Oh," she said, surprised. "Yeah, thanks. I think I'll live." Robin laughed again, and the two of them walked forward towards the robot. The chest of the android opened, and a man who vaguely resembled a monkey fell out of it.

"Foul. I call foul!" He protested, voice shaking. M'gann lifted a rock of up calmly and let it hover over him. Kaldur's eyes widened when the realization of what she was about to do hit him.

"M'gann, no!" he cried, rushing forward to grab her arm. But it was too late. The boulder landed directly on the man, no doubt killing him. Paityn's mouth dropped open. M'gann seemed so sweet – why would she kill this guy?

"Don't know how things are done on _Mars_ ," Robin snapped at M'gann. "But here on _Earth_ we don't _execute_ our captives!"

"Actually, sometimes we do," Akari pointed out. Robin glared at her and she held up her hands. "Just saying." M'gann just smirked at the Boy Wonder.

"You said you would trust me," she reminded him. She lifted the rock with a wave of her hand, revealing the man underneath. Instead of the blood and shattered bones Paityn had been expecting, the man was made of wires and metal.

"Andriod-ception," Paityn muttered under her breath. "Weird."

"That's why I couldn't read his mind!" M'gann said, pointing at the destroyed robot. Wally snatched up a weirdly realistic looking green eyeball.

"Cool! Souvenir!" Kaldur placed a hand on M'gann's shoulder, looking impressed.

"We should have had more faith in you," he told the Martian sounding a little ashamed.

"Yeah, you _rocked_ this mission!" Wally said. "Get it? _Rocked_? Heh."

"Oh, we all got it," Akari teased him. "It's just that no one else thought it was funny." Wally made a face at her, and Akari laughed.

"Ignore him," Robin agreed. "We're all just turbed you're on the Team." Paityn grinned at the green girl. "Absolutely," she said. Megan laughed a little.

"Thanks guys," she said. "Me too."

* * *

 **MOUNT JUSTICE**

 **July 18, 10:59 EDT**

"It was clearly created to sabotage or destroy you," Kaldur finished debriefing with Red Tornado back at the Cave. Robin, Paityn, and Kid Flash were running diagnostics on the robot they'd brought back to the Cave.

"Agreed," Red Tornado affirmed, studying the remains of the other android.

"Is that why you wouldn't help us?" M'gann asked red humanoid looked at her.

"No," he said simply. "This was your battle. I do not believe it is my role to solve your problems for you. Nor should you solve mine for me." He spoke with an air of finality.

"But, Tornado, if you're in danger, don't you think –" Akari began to speak before Red Tornado cut her off.

"Consider this matter closed." He strode away, leaving the Team to themselves.

"Batman, Aquaman, Flash…they'd have jumped right in to fix things," Wally marveled. Robin shrugged his shoulders.

"Guess if we're gonna have a babysitter, a heartless machine is exactly what we need." Paityn raised her eyebrows.

"Um, Rob? Way harsh, dude."

"And inaccurate," the android said from across the room. "I have a heart. Carbon-steel alloy." He turned to look back at Robin. "I also happen to have excellent hearing." Robin flushed, clearly embarrassed.

"Um, right. Sorry. I'll strive to be…more accurate."

" _Accuracy_ is not your problem," Akari told the younger teen. Kaldur seemed to agree with her, striding over to Robin and putting a hand on the younger teens shoulder.

"Yes. You should strive to be more _respectful_." Robin rubbed the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. The three original protégés looked around at the Team in satisfaction. The tension was much more relaxed than it had been all day.

"Speedy was so wrong," Wally noted with satisfaction.

"Yeah. This Team thing…" Robin began.

"Might just work out," Kaldur finished for him as the three walked off. Paityn yawned and stretched her arms out above her head. She and Akari followed the boys out of the debriefing room. Superboy began to follow the Team, but paused briefly. As she walked away, Paityn could just hear him apologizing sincerely to M'gann, making her smile.

* * *

So not all updates are going to be this fast, but I had two days where I had no plans so I was able to knock out these two chapters. Anyways, please tell me what you think - I would _really_ appreciate feedback so I can improve. Also I only did about twenty minutes of research on the details Nogitsune and Kitsune to add to my background knowledge - if any of you catch happen to know more about it and catch any mistakes or contradictions please let me know! Thank you!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice**

* * *

 **CARIBBEAN** **SEA**

 **JULY 22, 20:08 ECT**

The BioShip glided smoothly through the warm air of the Caribbean night. The interior of the ship was quiet, nervous anticipation heavy in the open space. It was the Team's first _official_ mission, and all seven of them were eager to please. Paityn recalled Batman's briefing where he had told them what they were to do - covertly spy on a factory that was producing a super-steroid - and also to work out who should lead amongst themselves. She'd been concerned when she'd heard that – ever since their faceoff against Twister, the Team had been friendly with one another, and Paityn was worried that the new ambition of Team Leader hanging over their heads would cause friction between members of the Team.

"We're approaching Santa Prisca," Miss Martian announced, breaking the heavy silence of the BioShip. Paityn took a deep breath, shaking her nerves off. This wasn't her first covert mission, but it was her first covert mission with a ragtag team of super powered, somewhat angsty teenagers instead of an elite task force of highly trained agents (or sometimes highly trained super _villains)_. "Drop Zone A in thirty," Miss Martian reminded Aqualad and Paityn. Paityn unbuckled her seatbelt and stood up, her seat automatically melting into the floor as she did so. She was glad she was with Aqualad – she figured that the responsible teenager would be the most like the people she was used to working with, and that would help break her into this type of work. The Atlantean tapped the stylized 'A' insignia on his belt to activate the newly developed stealth tech, which Paityn didn't have. Instead of her civvies or the classic tights-and-cape combo that most superheroes seemed to don, Paityn had opted to wear her usual A.R.G.U.S. uniform – with a few modifications. She'd actively made the decision to not sport the emblem of A.R.G.U.S. on her shoulder or anywhere else, and procured a utility belt to hold some smaller weapons, besides her guns and staff. Aqualad glanced at the younger teen, and she nodded.

"Ready," Aqualad affirmed for both of them.

"Putting BioShip in camouflage mode," Miss Martian responded, swooping the ship closer to the ocean as she did so. Once the ship hovered just a few feet above the water, Miss Martian opened a hatch in the floor for them. Aqualad dove into the sea, and as Paityn prepared herself to fly out after him, Robin called out to her.

"Good luck," he said. Here he smirked. " _Mockingbird."_ The blonde grinned back at him, unfurling her wings and falling out into open space. She soared just inches over the water, letting the mist spraying from the sea offer her minimal cover. She reached the beach just moments before Aqualad did, and quickly moved to tamper with the heat and motion sensors to conceal the rest of the Team's entry of the island. She plugged a device into the sensor, finishing just as Aqualad approached her. She nodded at him, and he touched the comm link in his ear.

"Heat and motion sensors are patched," he informed the rest of the Team. "Data is now on a continuous loop. Move in." Aqualad beckoned the young girl, and the two began to move quietly through the trees. They soon reached a small cliff that blocked their path. Mockingbird glanced at the Atlantean, who would have had to climb it.

"You want a lift?"

* * *

"Drop Zone B," Miss Martian told the Team. Kitsune stood from her seat, grabbing the grappling line that descended from the ceiling on Miss Martian's silent command and attaching it to her belt. She watched as Kid Flash touched the lightning bolt logo on his chest to activate his new stealth tech, his usual bright yellow uniform turning black and the vivid scarlet also darkening a few shades.

"How cool is this?" He gloated, spinning around and looking at Miss Martian, a flirty smile plastered on his face as per usual.

"Very impressive," Miss Martian assured him, a slightly patronizing smile on her face. She closed her eyes in concentration, and her own uniform turned more similar to her uncles, a black jumpsuit with a red X crossing the chest. She had also added a hood to her usual navy blue cape. Kid Flash gaped at her, his green eyes wide with admiration and astonishment.

"Uh…that works too," he said, practically drooling over the Martian. Then, turning his attention away from the girl: "Hey, Supey, Kit! Not too late to pull out the new stealth tech." The broad boy crossed his arms over his chest.

"No capes, no tights." He maintained his position on the matter that he'd voiced earlier that day. "No offense," he added. Kitsune laughed, shaking her head at Kid Flash as well as she scraped a hand through her long hair and pulled it into a high ponytail instead of letting it trail down her back in its usual black flow.

"It totally works for you," Miss Martian said, staring at Superboy dreamily. When Superboy shot her a weird look, she realized what she'd said and quickly corrected herself. "I mean that you can totally do good work in those clothes," she fibbed, giving Superboy an awkward thumbs up. Superboy looked away, and Miss Martian put her hood up, turning invisible to hide her embarrassment.

"Think that Tori – sorry, Paityn – Mockingbird?" That girl had too many names for someone who'd never been given an official one. "She felt the same way. I do too," Kitsune finished, shaking her head. Despite Mockingbird's adamancy on no one knowing that she was with A.R.G.U.S., she'd still more-or-less worn the uniform they'd issued her instead of trying to find a new one. Kitsune had also chosen against the 'traditional' Kevlar suit, instead donning a dark grey kosode tucked into a black hakama – loose, comfortable traditional Japanese clothing that she remembered from her parents and grandparents sometimes wearing from her very early childhood. Kitsune looked up, realizing that everyone was staring at her. "Oh, I meant about the clothes, not that Superboy looks good in them – you know what? Never mind." Kitsune could feel herself blushing. _Too bad I can't turn invisible like Miss Martian can,_ she thought to herself. Instead she stepped out of the hole in the ship, dropping to the ground with the assistance of the grappling line. Wind whistled in her ears as she fell towards the ground.

Kitsune's feet touched down on solid earth. She unhooked her line, standing next to Kid Flash, Robin, and Miss Martian. The four of them glanced up to see Superboy free-falling towards them. Kitsune jumped out of the way seconds before Superboy slammed into the ground, creating a small crater and a loud noise. Kitsune could feel the vibrations in her hands and feet as they rolled through the hard packed soil on the ground. He stood up, looking quite proud of himself despite the fact that he had potentially given away their position. "Knew I didn't need a line," he said, smiling with satisfaction.

"And yet, creating a seismic event may not have helped us much with the _covert,"_ Robin complained from where he was slumped on the ground. Kitsune stood up and pulled Robin to his feet as Miss Martian alerted their two absent teammates of their status.

"Head for the factory. Mockingbird and I will track your GPS and rendezvous ASAP." Aqualad's voice crackled slightly as he spoke over the comm. Robin pulled up a holographic map of the island, and the others bent over his shoulder to see it. The factory and their current position were clearly marked, showing how much ground they needed to cover.

"Roger that," Robin said, closing the map and taking off. His teammates moved after him quickly. The youngest teen led the way with confidence, the others following him as quietly as they could. Suddenly, Superboy stiffened next to her.

"Did you hear that?" he asked. Kitsune strained her ears. Her hearing wasn't quite as sensitive as Superboy or Mockingbird's, but it was still better than the average human. She could pick up the faint cracking of sticks as they broke underneath feet. The five of them were standing still, and she doubted Aqualad and Mockingbird would have gotten that close without alerting them. Kid Flash and Miss Martian stopped ahead of them.

"No, hear what?" The speedster responded, bewildered. Then he frowned. "Wait, is this like a super-hearing thing?"

"Yes," Kitsune responded. She looked up. "I hear it too."

"You do have great ears, Superboy," Miss Martian said dreamily. Kitsune rolled her eyes, irritated by Miss Martian's fawning over Superboy. Kid Flash turned towards Robin.

"Okay, Rob, now what?" The four teenagers turned to the spot where their friend had been only to see empty air. Kid Flash threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. "Man, I hate it when he does that!" He whisper-yelled.

"Superboy, Kid, switch to infrared – see if you're being tracked," Aqualad ordered. Kid Flash lowered his goggles and looked off into the distance of the dark woods.

"Got a squad of armed bozos coming," he affirmed. Superboy was looking in the opposite direction.

"Two squads," he corrected. "But they'll meet each other before they find us." As if on cue, gunfire began to pop as the two groups caught sight of one another and began to fight.

"No super hearing required now, KF," Kitsune muttered.

"Guys, you want to stay far out of that, okay?" This time it was Mockingbird speaking on the comm. "Swing wide from it – just stay clear!" Disregarding her suggestion, Kid Flash stepped over the log he'd been crouched behind.

"Yeah, yeah – just as soon as I find Rob." The speedster took off to look for his missing friend before anyone could stop him.

"Kinda makes you wish he _was_ wearing yellow. Or a bell around his neck," Kitsune noted as she, Superboy and Miss Martian followed him _much_ more slowly. "It'd be easier to keep track of him." Just then, she heard him let out a yelp of pain and surprise. The Asian girl shook her head. "Well, that works too, I suppose." The three remaining heroes picked up speed; having heard the gunfire restart with a vengeance that indicated that their friend was in trouble. Reaching the area of the skirmish, Kitsune jumped off a boulder, the higher height giving her more momentum as she slammed into one of the red-hooded villains. She scraped her claws against his chest, eyes glowing white when he hissed in pain. Feeding off of the chaotic situation, the demon-like spirit inside of her purred, egging her on. Kitsune shook her head, trying to clear her mind. _Let's not go too insane,_ she reminded herself, kickingthe guy away from her. She had to take a couple of deep breaths in order to regain her concentration.

In her moment of distraction, a different bad guy tackled her. She gasped as she hit the ground, the mud squelching against her back and dirtying her uniform. Her foe pointed his gun at her head, making her eyes widen. She grabbed both of his wrists, forcing him to point the gun straight ahead instead of down at her. His hands shook with the force she was exerting on them, and he started to pull on the trigger. Random gunshots began to fire sporadically, hitting the tree behind Kitsune. She kicked her opponent off, rubbing the back of her neck as she stood up. Kitsune picked up the gun he dropped and broke it in half, tossing the different parts in either direction. The red hood's eyes narrowed, and he charged at her. The Asian girl put her hands up to block his blow, figuring he was going to swing high. Unfortunately, she misjudged the swing, and he hit her in the gut, sending her stumbling off balance to the side. She steadied herself briefly before swinging her leg up in a roundhouse kick. Her heel connected with his jaw, and he fell to the ground.

The subtle sound of feet on the muddy ground made her spin around, but it was only Robin dropping from the trees above them. The young teen immediately took out two of the non-uniformed thugs with ease.

"What is wrong with you guys? Remember covert?" Robin chastised his friends. "Why didn't you follow my lead, vanish into the jungle?"

"Oh, that's what you were doing?" Kid Flash stopped fighting long enough to argue with his friend. "Way to fill us in! We're not _mind readers,_ you know." He glanced at Miss Martian, who was using her telekinesis to throw several red hoods to the ground, and then corrected himself. "Well, I'm not, anyways." The green skinned superhero looked up.

"You told me I was only allowed to read the bad guys' minds," she reminded Robin, defending herself.

* * *

Mockingbird was moving silently towards the factory with Aqualad when she heard gunfire and their friends' voices. From the sound of it, their Team was right in the middle of the crossfire. Aqualad sighed.

" _What_ are they doing?" He asked, irritated. "You told them to stay clear, correct?" Mockingbird nodded.

"Yup. Sounds like they didn't listen." The two changed course, moving in to help their friends. By the time they reached the site of the conflict, the Team had mostly won the battle. Mockingbird grabbed the nearest goon from behind, putting him in a chokehold. He grunted, struggling wildly in her grip and flailing his fists about. Mockingbird gritted her teeth when one of his wild punches almost hit her in the nose and applied more pressure to his throat. She could feel his struggles getting weaker as he lost consciousness. When he fell completely limp in her arms, she dropped him, kicking him out of her way for good measure. Aqualad had confronted the last standing adversary, placing his hand on the chest of one of the hooded foes and shocking him with electricity from his water bearers.

"Oh, good. You guys are here," Robin said, and she whirled around. The other members of the Team had taken care of the rest of the squads, but that didn't make the fact that they'd intervened in the first place better.

"What happened to _'stay clear?'"_ She snapped at them, putting her hands on her hips and glaring. Before anyone could answer, Aqualad placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him. Aqualad's pale grey eyes also held thinly concealed annoyance, but he still seemed much calmer than Mockingbird was

"What's done is done," he reminded her. "We should contain these people while they are still unconscious." Mockingbird rolled her eyes, but nodded. With the help of some rope from Robin's ever-useful utility belt, she and the rest of the Team managed to tie up the bad guys onto two different trees. She squinted at the ones clad in red – something about them bothered her. Then it clicked.

"Hey, I recognize those uniforms! They belong to the – " She exclaimed, motioning to the tree. Robin's eyes widened.

" – the Cult of the Kobra," the two said at the same time. Robin looked at her. "Wait, how do you know that?" Mockingbird shrugged. She was starting to realize that she was really bad at seeming like she was new to the whole fighting crime thing.

"I do my research," she replied. Aqualad shook his head.

"I am certain that Batman would have mentioned it if he knew that a dangerous extremist was running Santa Prisca's Venom operation," Aqualad pointed out.

"Well, it's possible he _didn't_ know," Kitsune pointed out. "Batman's good, but he's not omniscient." Robin nodded in agreement.

"There's clearly no love lost between the cultists and those goons, I'm betting Kobra came and tossed them out!" Robin concluded. "That's why normal supply lines have been cut off."

"We get it," Kid Flash cut in, knocking Robin off of his soapbox. "Kobra wanted super cultists. Mystery solved. Let's radio Bats and we'll be home in time for – " Robin interrupted his friend, frowning.

"These cultists weren't _on_ Venom," he insisted. "Kobra's hoarding the stuff! We don't leave, not until I know why." Kid Flash's face darkened, and Mockingbird sighed inwardly _. And there's that tension I predicted,_ she thought to herself _._ Kid Flash was glaring at his best friend. She had just known that there would be at least one fight about this leadership position.

"Until _you_ know why?" He questioned the raven-haired teen aggressively. Robin looked back at him, lifting his chin defiantly.

"This Team _needs_ a leader!" He maintained. The speedster raised his eyebrows, looking at Robin skeptically.

"And it's _you?"_ Kid Flash scoffed. "Dude, you're a thirteen year old kid who ducked out on us without a word!" Mockingbird crossed her arms, sighing a little. _Really? They're doing this right here, right now?_ Robin cackled at his slightly older friend, not the least bit daunted by Kid Flash's rebuke.

"Oh, and you're the _mature_ fifteen?" He taunted the redhead. "You blew our cover first chance you got!" As the two continued to argue loudly, Miss Martian turned towards three of her teammates.

"Don't any of you want to lead?" She asked Superboy, Kitsune, and Mockingbird. Kitsune snickered a little.

"I'll pass on _that_ responsibility," she said decisively. "Who wants to babysit those two all day?" She asked, waving a hand at Robin and Kid Flash. Superboy just shook his head quickly with a small snort, but Mockingbird's headshake came slower as she mulled over her answer. A small part - okay, a big part - of the winged teenager _did_ want to lead, because she knew that had the most experience being on a team of more than two people. But she also knew that she was too young, and that the other members of the Team hadn't even known she existed until a few weeks ago – they thought she was completely new to this, even though she had almost as much experience under her belt fighting crime as Robin did.

"What about you, Miss M?" The Martian girl shook her head, eyes a little wide.

"After the Mister Twister fiasco?" She raised a hand as if to dismiss of the very thought. Superboy smiled at her encouragingly.

"You did alright," he reassured her, his softer than normal. Mockingbird raised her eyebrows, slightly pleased at Superboy's efforts at being nicer to the bubbly Martian girl. _Well, that was new._ When she glanced at Kitsune, she noticed that her friend was scowling slightly, a small glare on her face. Mockingbird looked at her friend quizzically. _Was she…jealous?_ _That was even newer._ Seeing Mockingbird look at her, Kitsune's face cleared and she spoke briskly, making Mockingbird wonder if she'd misjudged her old friend.

"Guess that leaves Aqualad then," Kitsune said. "Because like _hell_ I'm letting either of those two idiots lead me into battle," she said, nodding at Kid Flash and Robin, who were still bickering with one another.

"Shh…" Mockingbird said, no longer paying attention to the conversation. "You hear that?" The four quieted down, listening to two men tied to one of the trees converse in Spanish. She could tell that Superboy and Kitsune could both hear and understand them as she could from the expression on their faces.

"You don't even have super powers!" Kid Flash yelled at Robin.

"Yeah, neither does Batman!" Robin rebuked. Kid Flash snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Duh – you're _not_ Batman!"

"Closest thing we've got!" Robin said triumphantly. Their argument was interrupted by one of the men tied to the trees – one of the ones who had been speaking. He laughed, broad shoulders shaking under the rope.

"Such clever _niños,"_ he commented, but his voice was disparaging. "But you only know half the story. Let me show you the rest, get you caught up. I'll take you to the factory via my secret entrance," he offered. Miss Martian knelt down in front of him, studying his face as she read his mind.

"There is a secret entrance," she confirmed. "But he's also hiding something." Her eyes glowed white as she delved deeper into his mind. The man chuckled, shaking his head at the green skinned girl.

"Ah, ah, ah, _chica,_ Bane is not so easy." Miss Martian exhaled in frustration, her eyes returning to normal as she stood up abruptly.

"Ugh, he's mentally reciting _fútbol_ scores _en Español."_ She looked up at her teammates. "This could take a while," she admitted, sounding annoyed and discouraged.

"It's simple," Bane continued to argue. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." The Team exchanged looks amongst each other. Mockingbird was wary of the stranger, but it wasn't exactly like they had a better option. Aqualad nodded.

"Untie him."

* * *

Bane led the teenagers through the dark jungle. He was working his way up a steep hill, pushing aside vines and branches to clear a path to the top. Once they had reached the edge of the cliff, he paused, waiting for the others to catch up. When they reached his side, Bane pointed to a large factory built in a clearing in the middle of the thick rainforest. Mockingbird raised her binoculars to her eyes, adjusting the focus on them.

"Damn," she said upon spotting the shipments. "That's a lot of drugs."

"A buy _is_ going down," Robin said, getting to his feet. "But if Kobra's not selling to the usual suspects –"

"Then we need to identify that buyer," Aqualad supplied. Kid Flash nodded, uncrossing his arms.

"Just what I was thinking," he said, trying to seem responsible.

"Yeah, you're the thinker," Robin teased his friend, a smirk plastered onto his face. Kid Flash stared at the younger boy.

"Sarcasm? Dude. A _real_ leader would focus on getting answers." As they spoke, Bane had moved away and was clearing a boulder that had been strategically placed in front of a tunnel. He dusted his hands off.

"Answers are this way," he told Kid Flash, motioning down the rickety looking, dimly lit tunnel. He began to lead them through it, the Team following without question.

"So, now _El Luchador_ is our leader," Kid Flash muttered under his breath, sounding displeased. Robin hit him on the head as he passed, but Mockingbird couldn't tell if that was because of his comment or if it was just Robin being passive-aggressive. After a few moments of walking in silence, Bane reached a metal door. He placed his thumb on the fingerprint pad, and the access light flashed green as the door slid open, revealing some sort of storage closet. There was a regular door at the end of the room, which Bane opened cautiously. Robin peeked out, checking either side before moving.

"All clear!" He announced self-assuredly, taking off. Bane led the rest of the Team out more slowly. Their new ally looked around, sneering.

"Has that little fool already been caught?" Bane asked scornfully. Aqualad sighed, rubbing the side of his face with exasperation.

"No, he just does that." Kid Flash lowered his goggles over his eyes and looked at Aqualad.

"Stay put," he ordered. "I'll get our intel and be back before the Boy Wonder."

"Wait, Kid!" Aqualad put his hand out as if to grab Kid Flash's wrist, but the fifteen year old had already sped off. Bane looked back at the remaining members of the Team.

"Great chain of command," Bane jeered. Aqualad took a deep breath, clearly trying to control his irritation.

"Come on," he said to the others. He led them deeper into the factory much more cautiously than Kid Flash and Robin had gone, occasionally ducking out of sight when a cultist came into view. Eventually, they reached an overhang where they could observe the buy but not be seen.

"That shipment's huge," Kitsune muttered, looking at the amount of steroids that were being transported.

"But they're only taking new product off the line," Superboy pointed out, motioning. "They're not touching _this_ Venom

"Maybe…freshness counts?" Miss Martian offered, sounding a little skeptical herself.

"Helicopters," Mockingbird warned, looking up at the ceiling of the warehouse.

"I hear them too," Superboy affirmed. "Our buyer's here." Aqualad nodded sharply.

"Miss Martian, camouflage yourself and find out who it is," he ordered. The Martian nodded, pulling up hood and disappearing instantaneously. Once she was gone, Aqualad pointed up to the catwalks above their heads. "We will wait there until we have more information." Miss Martian must have responded quickly, because after only a few moments of waiting, Aqualad opened his eyes in surprise. "Sportsmaster? He is the buyer?" The dark-skinned teen raised a hand to his comm link. "Aqualad to Red Tornado – do you read?" He closed his eyes, grunting in frustration. "Ugh. Can't reach the League, Robin, or Kid. Comm's jammed. We need a plan, now."

"I have a suggestion," Bane offered, smiling in a way that was the exact opposite of reassuring. Instead of telling them his plan, he dove off the catwalk, knocking aside two cultists. Other Kobra cultists immediately began to fire at him, causing a lot of commotion.

"What is he –" Mockingbird began to speak, but was interrupted by a huge Blockbuster-like creature breaking through the window above them. It landed feet first on the catwalk, snapping it in half. Kitsune, Superboy, and Aqualad fell to the ground, but Mockingbird spread her wings to slow her descent.

"Destroy them!" Kobra ordered the creature. At it's leader's order, the creature rushed forward, roaring. Superboy met him halfway, and the two began to grapple, neither of them giving ground. Mockingbird pulled out collapsible staff from the loop on her belt, ducking behind a pillar for cover from the gunfire.

"So much for covert," she said, more to herself than to anyone else. As a cultist passed her, she leapt out at him, kicking him firmly in the chest and then knocking his gun out of his hand. The red hooded bad guy swung at her, catching her on her cheekbone. Mockingbird grunted, stumbling from the hit before regaining her balance and continuing to fight. She put up her staff up, blocking the cultists punches with the long stick. After a few moments of parrying, she went on the offensive, sweeping his feet out from underneath him and slamming his head into the ground.

"Miss Martian, radio is jammed!" Aqualad called out to their resident telepath. "Link us up!" Mockingbird felt the tugging sensation in her mind again and grimaced. It was going to take a little while longer for her to get used to this whole mind link thing.

" _Everyone online?"_ Miss Martian asked.

" _I'm here,"_ Mockingbird assured her friend, ducking another punch that a cultist threw at her.

" _Yeah,"_ Superboy confirmed, sounding resigned to the fact that was in his head.

" _You know it, beautiful,"_ Kid Flash, as usual, took the opportunity to flirt with Miss Martian.

" _Present and accounted for._ " That was Kitsune.

" _Good. We need to regroup,"_ Aqualad told them. Of course, Robin was busy with his own plans.

 _"Busy now,"_ he sing-songed. Aqualad kicked another cultist aside, gritting his teeth. It was clear he was trying to keep his patience with the younger teen's lack of communication.

 _"Robin, now!"_ he insisted _. "Strategic retreat,"_ Aqualad ordered _. "Kid, clear a path."_ Kid Flash zoomed in front of the others, knocking down cultists that blocked their way back to the tunnel. Superboy was the last to come in, and he pulled the heavy door shut. The barricade didn't last long, for the Blockbuster Venom creature quickly busted its way through the door

"Superboy, Kitsune, the support beams!" Aqualad yelled. Kitsune turned to the nearest shaft in the passageway and kicked it down. Superboy was doing the same thing on the other side, causing the tunnel to shake from lack of structure, before caving in completely. As the dust rose around them, Mockingbird had flashbacks to Cadmus. She coughed, waving a hand in front of her face in a fruitless attempt to clear the air. The lights had been destroyed by the cave-in, and the tunnel was pitch black.

"Do we have any lights?" Mockingbird asked. "I can't see my hand in front of my face." As soon as Mockingbird spoke, small glowing orbs popped up around the Team, washing the tunnel in a silver-y glow and effectively highlighting their shocked faces.

"What the hell?" Kid Flash asked, looking around in confusion. Kitsune grinned impishly, creating more small orbs as she rubbed her hands together.

"It's called fox fire," she replied simply. "All Kitsune's have some control over it."

"How could my first mission as leader go so wrong?" Robin wondered aloud, ignoring what was going on around him. He was clearly disappointed in the others, but mostly in himself.

"You do have the most experience," Aqualad said. "But perhaps that is exactly what has left you unprepared. Fighting alongside Batman, your roles are defined. You two do not need to talk. But _this_ team is new. And a leader must be clear, explicit. He cannot vanish and expect others to play parts in his unknown plan." Aqualad's point was partially to comfort Robin and partially to reprimand him.

"Oh, so I'm supposed to hold everyone's hand?" Robin asked rhetorically, clearly upset. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, his anger vanished. "Who am I kidding? You should lead us, Kaldur. You're the only one who can." Kid Flash scoffed at that, clearly not seeing the obvious course of action.

" _Please!_ I can run circles – " Robin cut him off.

"Wally, come on!" He tried to convince his friend. "You know he's the one. We all do."

"Hello, Megan! It's so obvious!" the Martian chirped. Superboy shrugged.

"Could've told ya." "I did call that from the get-go," Kitsune muttered under her breath. Mockingbird grinned at Aqualad.

"You are a great leader," she told him, punching him playfully on the shoulder. Everyone looked at Kid Flash, waiting for his opinion. He looked back at them, and then smiled and shrugged, his easy-going nature returning.

"Okay." Aqualad dipped his head in acknowledgement, his eyes grave. The eldest teen approached Robin.

"Then I accept the burden," he was speaking to them all, but looking at Robin as he placed a hand on Robin's shoulder. "Until you are ready to lift it from my shoulders. You were born to lead this team. Maybe not now, but soon." Robin nodded, a smile on his face, clearly pleased with the Atlantean's faith in him. "Alright, our first priority is preventing that shipment from leaving this island." Robin grinned, crossing his arms.

"Funny, I had the same thought."

* * *

As the Team ran down the tunnel, led by the light of Kitsune's fox fire, Robin and Kid Flash filled them in on what they'd found, and Aqualad told the two boys whom the buyer was.

"So Sportsmaster is the buyer/supplier, but it still doesn't track," Robin said. "He doesn't have the juice to acquire the Blockbuster formula, _or_ to get Kobra to do his dirty work."

"And neither of them would have been able to bond Blockbuster with Venom," Mockingbird added, knowing that that was neither of the areas of expertise of the two different villains.

"Yeah," Kid Flash agreed with her. "That took some major nerdage."

"I believe the expression is," Aqualad said, slowing down. " _'Tip of the iceberg.'"_ They had reached the end of the tunnel. Mockingbird was about to question the Atlantean on why he'd stopped but then she saw. Blocking their exit was Bane, holding a detonator in his hand and wearing a sadistic smirk

"Halt, _niños,"_ he ordered them. "I'm feeling _…explosive."_ Mockingbird followed his gaze to above her head. Bane had rigged up small bombs on the ceiling, and they were beeping – ready to detonate as soon as Bane pressed the button.

"You betrayed us," Aqualad said, pretending to be shocked. "Why?" And then, over the mental link: _"Kid, you'll need a running start."_ Kid Flash gave a tiny nod – really just inclining his chin slightly forward – and began to subtly move backwards.

"I want my factory back," Bane explained. "So I forced you into a situation where you would either take down my enemies or die trying. If the latter, the Justice League certainly would have come to avenge their sidekicks. And when the smoke cleared? Santa Prisca would be mine once more. Blowing the tunnel with you inside should have the same effect." He moved to press down on the button, and Mockingbird felt her hair lift as Kid Flash sped by her in a blur.

"With what?" Kid Flash called as Bane's finger moved down on nothing. The look of shock that colored his face was absolutely priceless. "This trigger thingy?" Kid Flash brandished the detonator at Bane, grinning mischievously. Bane screamed in outrage, swinging at the redheaded speedster. Before he could land his hit, he was pulled up into the air by Miss Martian, being suspended by her telekinesis.

"Finally," Superboy said with satisfaction. He cracked his knuckles. "Drop him." As Bane fell, Superboy launched a hard uppercut into his face.

 _ **Bam**._

* * *

"Ready to wreak havoc?" Mockingbird asked Kitsune, pulling out a gun from the holster on her right thigh. Kitsune's eyes flashed white.

"Always," she replied darkly, grinning in a slightly manic way. The two girls charged out of the cover of the forest. Kitsune stabbed the nearest cultist with her claws, knocking him out of the way. Mockingbird left her friend to her own fight, pulling a smoke bomb out of her utility belt and spiking it against the ground to activate it. As the cultists around her coughed and stumbled around, trying to clear their eyes of the stinging smoke, Mockingbird flew above them, taking aim at their chests and watching as they fell to the ground.

"You're not killing them, are you?" Kid Flash said worriedly. Mockingbird raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"Do you _see_ any blood? This one's a stun gun." The redhead blinked

"Oh. Sweet." A loud noise interrupted their conversation. Kid Flash and Mockingbird both looked up at the sky. Miss Martian had clearly succeeded in placing the bombs, because the helicopter was falling out of the sky, one of its engines having been destroyed. The flaming helicopter hit the factory, causing an even bigger explosion. A wave of heat washed over Mockingbird's face and she screwed up her eyes, wincing.

"I am plagued by mosquitoes," Kobra complained, kicking Robin to the ground and placing his foot on his chest. Robin grunted, sweeping himself out of Kobra's foothold.

"Good! 'Cause this mosquito's mighty _concerted_ over your pain!" The teen flipped backwards elegantly, landing next to his teammates, who had moved to help him. Kobra straightened up, appraising the Team of teenaged super heroes critically. He seemed to decide that attempting to take all of them on would end poorly for him, so he backed away, disappearing into the shadows of the forest.

"Another time then," he suggested before being engulfed by darkness. Robin followed him, pushing aside a few leaf fronds and squinting into the gloom. Obviously finding nothing, the teenager returned to his Team.

"Where's Kitsune?" he asked, looking around. It was only in that moment that the rest of the Team realized that one member was missing.

"There," Superboy pointed across the battlefield. Kitsune was still fighting, seemingly unaware that the threat had been vanquished. The girl was holding up one of the cultists in the air, one hand around his throat and the other with her claws digging into his stomach. The cultist coughed up blood, eyes rolled back into his head. The scarlet substance that oozed from between his lips was a stark contrast to his pale skin.

"Kitsune!" Aqualad called, moving towards her. "This battle is over!" Kitsune growled, ignoring Aqualad. "Kitsune, please," their leader continued. "You are killing him." Kitsune tossed the cultist aside as though he weighed nothing and turned on her teammates. A chill went down Mockingbird's spine when she saw her friend. Kitsune's eyes were glowing an eerie white, and instead of just having elongated canines, her open mouth exposed more fangs than was usual for her. She smiled cruelly at her friends, stepping forward. She raised her hands slightly from her side, the claws dripping with blood from slashing at her enemies.

"Your fight may be over, Atlantean, but mine has barely begun," the voice that came from Kitsune's throat was deeper than her normal one. Mockingbird stepped in front of her friends.

"Careful, guys," Mockingbird warned them in a low voice. "I've seen this before. She's not in control." As if to confirm Mockingbird's statement, Kitsune leapt at her oldest friend, fangs bared and claws out. Before she could reach the blonde girl, Superboy launched himself forward and wrapped both arms around Kitsune's waist, effectively pinning her arms in place. The clone grunted and he planted his feet, struggling to keep the girl down. "Hold her still," Mockingbird told Superboy.

"Trying to," he barked back, teeth gritted. Mockingbird stepped forward, raising the butt of her staff to Kitsune's head. The darker haired girl thrashed in Superboy's arms, snarling at her friends.

"Mockingbird," Aqualad said quickly. "Are you quite certain that this is the best course of –" Before he could finish his sentence, Mockingbird slammed end of the rod into her friends temple, hard. Immediately after the impact, Kitsune's eyes flashed back to their normal amber color, faltering with confusion just before she fell limp in Superboy's arms.

"Positive," she replied, folding the staff up and replacing it in its holster attached to her belt. "She'll be fine." Superboy loosened his grip on the Asian girl so that he was simply supporting her instead of restraining her. Her head lolled to the side as she slumped forward, a bruise already coming in on the side of her head.

"What just happened?" Miss Martian asked, sounding partially concerned and partially terrified. Mockingbird sighed, rubbing her head. She didn't want to betray her Kitsune's trust by revealing something that was hers to share, but she didn't see another way around it. Besides, they were going to find out sooner or later.

"Cadmus literally possessed Kitsune with the spirit of Dark Kitsune, like she said. It – she feeds of chaos and strife – it makes her more powerful. I guess she wasn't prepared for how much there would be here, seeing how this was supposed to be _covert."_

"So what, we're going to have to worry about her going all demonic and turning on us whenever we fight?" Kid Flash asked sarcastically. "We're supposed to be fighting _them,_ not each other!"

"No," Mockingbird snapped at him, sounding angrier than they'd ever heard her. "She just lost control. She'll be _fine."_ Mockingbird knew that her voice sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than any one else. The Team lapsed into an awkward silence as the studied the burning wreckage and strewn bodies of their enemies around them. Although they had technically succeeded, their first mission had also turned out to be a complete mess.

"Well, at least we picked the right guy to lead," Robin said, trying to lighten the mood. He was looking at Aqualad with an approving smile on his face. Robin paused, unable to resist the jibe. "Automatically making you the right guy to explain _this_ mess to Batman!" The raven-haired boy walked away cackling, and Aqualad looked down, eyes heavy with resignation. Mockingbird winced sympathetically. She didn't envy that conversation one bit.

* * *

 **MOUNT JUSTICE**

 **JULY 23, 10:01 EDT**

Paityn and the rest of the Team (minus Akari) were lined up as if facing a firing squad. _Although,_ Paitynmused to herself, _in my experience, a firing squad is less terrifying than a lecture from Batman_. The imposing man paced back and forth in front of the Team, recounting their mission and critiquing everything that went wrong.

"A simple recon mission," Batman reproved the Team. "Observe and report. You'll each receive a written evaluation on your mission detailing your many mistakes. Until then…good job." Paityn looked up _. Say what?_ She thought, surprised. Batman's lips turned up ever so slightly at their shocked expressions. "'No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy,'" Batman quoted, voice marginally gentler. "How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success. And how you choose who leads, determines character." He turned around, facing the Team silently. M'gann took that as her opportunity to ask a question. She stepped forward slightly, raising her hand a little, and Batman nodded at her.

"Batman, what will happen to Akari?" She asked him. "She's not in trouble, is she?" Batman's lips pressed together. He hesitated for a second before speaking.

"Your friend is fine – she is currently in the med-bay recovering from a mild concussion inflicted by Mockingbird." Everyone turned to look at the blonde girl and she winced.

Oops," she whispered, looking at the ground, feeling a little bad. Perhaps she shouldn't have hit her friend that hard.

"I have made the executive decision that, effective-immediately, Kitsune will not be allowed to participate in any field missions until she has reached better control of her powers. This is not a punishment – although I am sure she will view it this way – it is merely an attempt to protect both her and the rest of you." He looked at the Team severely, as though daring them to argue with their friend's sentence. "She is very powerful," Batman concluded, turning to leave. "But her having control of her powers is not an option – it is a necessity."

* * *

 **MOUNT JUSTICE**

 **JULY 23, 14:09 EDT**

Akari awoke with a sharp ache pounding in her head. She groaned, sitting up. She was tucked into a standard hospital bed, surrounded by at least a dozen others in a sterile white room. Panic shot through her as she momentarily thought that she was at Cadmus again, waking up from another lab test. Then she recognized the infirmary of the Cave. The teenager rubbed her eyes and looked around, trying to make sense of her situation. _I was…at Santa Prisca,_ she remembered. Realization dawned on her and she groaned again, this time out of frustration rather than pain. Resting her aching head in her hands, she pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes in embarrassment and shame.

"You're awake," she looked up. Black Canary was standing at the foot of her bed. Her expression was peculiar, half wary and half worried. Akari nodded, wincing as the movement sent another stab of pain through her head. Black Canary's eyes wrinkled in concern. "How's your head?"

"I heal faster than the regular human, I'll be fine in a day or two," Akari muttered. She looked up slightly, face creased with concern. "Did I…hurt anyone?" she asked, voice raspy. Black Canary shook her head.

"According to your teammates you did quite the damage to a few of the cultists. But your teammates are in perfect health." Black Canary assured the teen. Akari shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, voice small. "I didn't mean to." Black Canary placed her hand on Akari's shoulder as she sat down at the foot of the bead, her eyes sympathetic. "What's going to happen to me?" Akari asked, still cradling her sore head in her hands. Her heart was pumping wildly in her chest, dread pulsing through her veins. She was deathly afraid they were going to send her back to Cadmus, although a small rational part of her brain knew that they wouldn't.

"Akari." The girl opened her eyes, looking up. It wasn't Black Canary who had spoken, but Batman. Even though his stance and build were as intimidating as ever, his voice was surprisingly gentle. "We have been informed of your…slip during this past mission. Because of what your teammates have told us, I have decided to prohibit you from participating with missions for a while." Akari sat up, mouth open, but Batman held up his hand. "This is not a punishment, it is for your own good." Batman turned to the door, looking at someone that Akari couldn't see. "We've asked an ally of ours to come in to help you with your control." Batman's tone of voice made it clear that this was not a suggestion. It was an order.

"We'll leave you two to it," Black Canary said, removing her hand and standing up. The blonde woman and Batman left the room, pausing to greet the woman who came in.

"So," an unfamiliar voice said. "You're Akari." She looked up. A very pretty African-American woman stood in front of her, arms crossed. Her eyes were kind, but it was clear from the set of her jaw that she meant business.

"Yeah," Akari muttered. She couldn't help feeling just the tiniest bit of petulance at her situation, even though she knew she should be grateful given the circumstances. "So, how are you going to help me?" Akari couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice. "You familiar with being possessed by a demonic fox spirit?" The woman chuckled, fingering the necklace she was wearing.

"Well…not exactly." She held a hand out to Akari. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Mari MaCabe. It's very nice to meet you."

* * *

 **So, I'm kind of leaning towards a Kitsune/Superboy pairing, but I have my reservations about it...even though they're perfect for each other in my head. Please, please leave me a review an let me know what you think about that ship, this chapter, or the story in general. I'd _really_ appreciate the feedback.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice**

* * *

 **MOUNT JUSTICE**

 **AUGUST 3, 13:06 EDT**

 _Recognized: Mockingbird, B-0-6_. The winged girl walked out of the Zeta Tube. She was already in uniform from an A.R.G.U.S. mission that had just ended when Aqualad had called her, reminding her of the mandatory training session with Black Canary that afternoon. If she was being totally honest, Mockingbird wasn't exactly looking forward to learning combat skills she already knew, but she also knew she couldn't skip. When the bright light from the Zeta Beam's died down, Mockingbird could see four of her friends clustered together at the side of the room.

Miss Martian and Robin were crowded around Kid Flash and Aqualad, who were playing air hockey on a holographic board. By the looks of it, Kid Flash was winning. Mockingbird walked over, grinning at the annoyed look on Aqualad's face when Kid Flash scored another point. Kid Flash whooped, pumping his fist in the air and taking a bite of the banana in his hand.

"Dibs next game," she said, leaning over. Robin elbowed her back playfully.

"Get in line," he retorted teasingly, smirking over his shoulder at the girl. Mockingbird stuck her tongue out at him childishly and glanced around, noticing that two members of the Team were missing.

"Where are Superboy and Kitsune?" She asked. Kid Flash had just taken a massive bite of banana, but that didn't stop him from responding to her question.

"Supahboy s'at Metwopwlos an' 'Kari's twaining," he mumbled around his food. Mockingbird wrinkled her nose, cringing as flecks of the slobbery fruit flew from Kid Flash's lips and hit the ground in front of him.

"Does someone whose mouth _isn't_ full of fruit want to tell me?" she asked, looking at her other teammates. Kid Flash made a face at her, taking another huge bite of the banana.

"Superboy heard of trouble in Metropolis, and he went to assist Superman, should he have needed it," Aqualad clarified for the girl, his pale eyes sparkling with amusement. "And Kitsune is training, as always." Mockingbird nodded, running a hand through her hair. Ever since they'd gotten back from Santa Prisca, she'd hardly seen her old friend. Kitsune had found the whole Team after she'd woken up and apologized for her lack of control and her attempt at harming them. All of them had forgiven her immediately, but she had still made herself scarce for the past week, always training and working hard on her control. It was clear to Mockingbird that Kitsune felt guilty about her control problems.

"Yeah, training with her _super-secret_ mentor," Robin said. Mockingbird looked at him, eyebrows raised with disbelief. Robin was _way_ too curious, _way_ too smart, and had access to _way_ too many resources to not have already figured out who was training Kit.

"Please. Like I believe that you don't know who it is already." Robin shrugged and smiled smugly.

"Found out the minute I had access to a good computer," the Boy Wonder affirmed, beaming broadly. Mockingbird shook her head, smiling at the dark haired boy.

"Care to share?" She asked, one of her eyebrows arching with anticipation. Robin shook his head and gave her another smirk, and Mockingbird fake-pouted.

 _Recognized: Superboy, B-0-4._ Said teen hero stalked out of the Zeta Tube, his face contorted into the angriest scowl Mockingbird had seen on him in quite a while. He walked straight through the holographic air hockey game, causing it to dissolve. Despite the clear waves of anger coming off of Superboy, Miss Martian still chose to try her luck and talk to him.

"Hi, Superboy!" She greeted him, enthusiasm evident in her voice. "How was Metropolis?" Superboy didn't answer with words, but his silence spoke volumes.

"Just going out on a limb here…but I'd say not great," Mockingbird muttered under her breath. Superboy flashed her an irritated look and she scowled back, refusing to be intimidated by the stronger teen. Someone cleared their throat, drawing the attention of the teenagers away from their angry teammate and towards the woman who had entered the room.

"Ready for training, everyone?" Black Canary called as she strode towards them, followed by the Martian Manhunter, Kitsune, and a woman that Mockingbird didn't recognize. Kitsune's face was tight with exhausted frustration, but she managed to flash Mockingbird a quick, tired smile as she walked towards her friends, limping slightly. It was clear that the constant training was taking a toll on her body, which made Mockingbird worry. She hoped her friend wasn't pushing herself too hard as some form of self-inflicted punishment.

"Black Canary," Miss Martian greeted the older woman, and then, catching sight of who was behind her: "Uncle J'onn!" She ran up to the other Martian, throwing her arms around his chest and hugging him, a broad smile stretched across her face. The older Martian looked down fondly at his niece as she pulled away, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"M'gann," he said. "I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I stop by and see how you are adjusting." Miss Martian shrugged, smiling at her uncle.

"A few bumps," she admitted, no doubt thinking of her mistake with Twister and the ensuing chaos. "But I'm learning," she offered. Her uncle nodded, looking pleased.

"That is all I can ask," he reassured the younger Martian. Mockingbird noticed Superboy watching the exchange with an expression on his face that was a mix of hurt and jealousy. She could guess what had gone down at Metropolis - another rejection from the person he considered as a father, or at least as an inspiration. He turned away to leave, and just before Mockingbird could follow him to apologize (she felt bad about being rude to him when he'd come in now), Black Canary spoke.

"Stick around," she called after the Boy of Steel. "Class is in session." She walked into the middle of the floor, heels clicking against the ground as she walked. When she reached the center, lights switched on, and with a whirring sound spread across the whole floor, making it glow white. Black Canary turned towards the mass of the group as she took off her jacket. "I consider it an honor to be your teacher," she told them. "With the help of Mari here for the training of Kitsune in specific," she said with a nod at the woman who had entered with Kitsune. "I'll throw a lot at you. Everything I've learned from my own mentors - ugh - and my own bruises." Her speech was interrupted by a groan of pain, and she winced as she took her jacket off, placing a hand tenderly on her bandaged upper arm

"What happened?" Miss Martian asked, eyes full of concern.

"The job," Black Canary answered briskly. She tossed her jacket aside and returned to business, placing her hands on her hips and staring down the Team. "Now, combat is about controlling conflict, putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting – never reacting. I'll need a sparring partner." She nodded towards the Asian girl. "Kitsune?" The teenager started, backing away slightly and glancing at Mari – whom Mockingbird now recognized from A.R.G.U.S.'s files as the heroine Vixen – nervously. Mockingbird raised her eyebrows, surprised. _Kit's always had a problem with authority – and now she's asking permission to spar from someone she barely knows?_ The blonde shook her head in disbelief. _Whatever Vixen's taught her so far, it's been good._ The woman shook her head once, and turned to Black Canary.

"Dinah, I don't think that's wise. Akari needs further work until she is ready to spar with a teammate or teacher other than myself." Black Canary nodded, looking a little disappointed but not particularly surprised. She turned towards the rest of the Team, eyebrows arched in an unasked question.

"Right here, yeah!" Kid Flash raised his hand. He gulped down the rest of his banana as he walked forwards. "After this," he said, pausing to throw his banana peel towards the trashcan. " _Swish._ I'll show you my moves," he said, waggling his eyebrows at the older woman flirtatiously. If this bothered Black Canary, she didn't let it on. She simply smirked at Kid Flash, immediately throwing a punch at him. The speedster's eyes widened, but he reacted quickly, blocking her hit. While he was distracted, Black Canary spun around and dropped low, kicking Kid Flash's legs out from underneath him. He landed flat on his back with a loud grunt of surprise and pain. The computerized floor announced his status as FAIL, something that Mockingbird couldn't help but agree with. She had to bite her lip to hold back a snicker at the redhead's expense.

"Ow…uh, hurts so good?" Kid Flash offered, voice sounding raspy from his having the wind knocked out of him.

"Good block," Black Canary assured, helping Kid Flash to his feet. "But did anyone see what he did wrong?"

"Oooh! Oooh!" Robin waved his hand wildly. Before anyone could acknowledge his hand, he spoke. "He hit on the teacher and got served?" This time, Mockingbird couldn't hold back her laughter, and she muffled her giggle with the palm of her hand as Kid Flash stared at the two of them with clear accusation in his eyes.

" _Dude!"_

"He allowed _me_ to dictate the terms of the – " Black Canary was cut off by a scoffing Superboy.

"Oh, please," he said, sounding extremely dismissive. "I'm a living weapon. With my powers, the battle's _always_ on my terms. This is a waste of my time." The clone sounded extremely over-confident, but Mockingbird was guessing that it was just driven by his anger and jealousy.

"Prove it," Black Canary challenged him. He stepped forward, raising his fists, but Black Canary held up a hand. "Before we start, Mockingbird, would you like a chance against Superboy?" The winged girl's eyes widened with shock and she stared at the older woman. "After all, it is my impression that Cadmus built you as a weapon as well, indicating that this may also be 'a waste of your time.'" Mockingbird studied Black Canary, wondering if this was a test for her or for Superboy. She guessed it was both. Black Canary had seen her sparring with Robin the other day and the younger girl had heard her speaking to Batman about Mockingbird's showing 'surprisingly impressive developed skills as a hand-to-hand combatant, considering the fact that she only could have been training for a little while now,' to which Batman had simply murmured about his knowledge of Mockingbird having received 'other training.' Mockingbird had been wary of a confrontation from either hero since that day, but she hadn't expected Canary to approach her in front of the entire team.

"Uh…no. I, uh, I'll pass, if that's okay." Black Canary had the same look of resigned disappointment as she did when Vixen had declined her request to have Kitsune fight.

"Very well then." She turned to face Superboy. "Let's begin." Superboy acted immediately, swinging his fist towards Canary rapidly. She sidestepped the hit and grabbed his arm, swinging him over his shoulder and onto the ground with apparent ease despite her injured arm. Robin immediately began to cackle again, and Mockingbird probably would have joined except for two reasons: one, while she had no qualms about laughing at Kid Flash because she knew he didn't hold a grudge, she felt bad about doing the same to Superboy and two, she was wary to draw further attention from Black Canary to herself. Aqualad elbowed Robin, who covered his mouth with his hands, but his stifled laughter was still obviously apparent. Superboy got to his feet, growling with frustration.

"You're angry, good," Black Canary noted. "But don't react. Channel that anger to –" Superboy yelled in rage, charging at Black Canary before she could finish her sentence. She jumped up, flipping over his shoulder and performing the same move as she had with Kid Flash, once again kicking Superboy's feet from beneath him and knocking him flat on his back. Robin giggled again, and Superboy jumped to his feet, refusing the help of Black Canary.

"That's it," he snarled. "I'm done."

"Training is mandatory," Black Canary told him, grabbing his arm. He shook off her hand, and the woman's eyes narrowed dangerously. Before they could continue their argument, a holographic screen opened up, revealing Batman.

"Batman to the Cave," he announced his presence. The rest of the Team moved closer to the screen, and Superboy turned away from Black Canary, crossing his arms and looking sullen once again. "Five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary. The attacker was capable of studying, then duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents. Arrow called in reinforcements, which nearly proved to be disastrous as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant."

"Woah…" Kid Flash said. "One guy with the powers of the entire League?" Mockingbird frowned, clicking her tongue against her teeth.

"So…he's a bit like a more powerful Parasite then?" Mockingbird asked, referring to the super villain who had been on A.R.G.U.S.'s wanted list for over three years. Batman nodded.

"More-or-less. In the end, it took eight Leaguers four hours to defeat and disassemble the android."

"An android?" Robin voiced his surprise. "Who built it, T. O. Morrow?" Batman shook his head.

"Good guess, Robin." Mockingbird noticed Superboy look at the ground murderously again as Batman praised his protégé. "But Red Tornado doesn't think so."

"The technology bares the signature of Professor Ivo," the elder Martian said gravely. Mockingbird's eyes popped open.

"Ivo? B – but he's dead!" She winced inwardly when Batman gave her a look. _Hello, Paityn. World's greatest detective right there and you're leaving clues right in front go his nose._ "I mean, I thought I heard that...like, on the news or something." She corrected herself clumsily. _Good grief. How did I manage to become a spy again? Can't lie to save my life._

"So did we," Black Canary agreed. "Or hoped." Mockingbird chewed the inside of her cheek, carefully storing this information in her head to inform Amanda if later.

"To make certain that this threat is permanently neutralized," Batman continued. "We're sending two trucks carrying the android's parts to two separate S.T.A.R. Lab facilities in Boston and New York for immediate evaluation. _Every_ precaution is being taken. We'll have four additional decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo, or anyone tries to recover the remains. You will split into undercover teams to safeguard the two real trucks." Kid Flash fist pumped the air, grinning wildly.

"Yes!" he sang. "Road trip!" Superboy, however, was not appeased.

"So now we take out your trash?" he said. Batman's eyes narrowed and he leveled the Boy of Steel with a glare.

"Do you have anything better to do?" He asked rhetorically. Superboy ducked his head, looking somewhat contrite. The GPS in Aqualad's hand beeped.

"Coordinates received," he announced. "On our way."

* * *

 **LITCHFIELD COUNTY**

 **AUGUST 3, 20:08 EDT**

Mockingbird adjusted her helmet. Batman had provided the whole Team with motorcycles and leather ensembles that matched the color schemes of their costumes. For her, that meant that her motorcycle gear was virtually the same as her usual costume. But hey, black leather worked for her – she wasn't complaining. Mockingbird was teamed with Robin and Superboy to protect the truck headed for Manhattan. Kitsune had stayed behind to train more with Vixen, which meant that Kid Flash, Miss Martian, and Aqualad were protecting the trucks headed towards the laboratory Boston. As they moved after the real truck, the sun was starting to set, sending streaks of purple, red, and orange across the sky. The sunset over the mountains and cornfields would have been beautiful, especially while gliding along the nearly empty roads on a state-of-the-art motorcycle, but the anger that surrounded Superboy like a layer of thorns sort of put a damper on the situation. Robin wasn't exactly helping.

"If dislike is the opposite of like," Robin ventured out loud. "Then is _aster_ the opposite of _dis_ aster?" Mockingbird slowed down a little to pull even with Robin, grinning at the boy.

"What is it with you and prefixes?" She asked him. He shrugged.

"I don't know, I just feel like it makes sense."

"Uh-huh," Mockingbird laughed. "So, tell me, Mr. Merriam-Webster, what does _aster_ mean?"

"Instead of things going wrong, they go right!" Robin defined for her, making Mockingbird laugh. Superboy scowled at the two of them, turning his attention to the road ahead. "Uh, clearly someone's not feeling the aster," Robin muttered to Mockingbird. Then, directing his next question to Superboy, he asked: "What's wrong?"

"Canary," Superboy bit out, still sounding sulky. "I mean, what business does _she_ have teaching combat skills to a guy with super-strength?" Mockingbird shrugged, veering closer to Superboy's bike. She tried to look him in the eye, but it was almost impossible while riding a motorcycle, especially when Superboy seemed adamant on not looking at her.

"Superboy, being strong isn't everything. Knowing what to do with that strength is just as important, if not _more_ important ." Robin voiced his agreement.

"MB's right, Superboy. Taking down stronger guys is part of the job. Canary learned that the hard way. Same with Batman, and well, me." These sentiments clearly didn't comfort the clone, as he revved his engine loudly, speeding up towards the truck and leaving Robin and Mockingbird behind.

"Something tells me he's not in the mood to talk," Mockingbird joked, looking at Robin. The boy shrugged and Mockingbird glanced ahead. She knew that Superboy had super-hearing, but she figured that he wasn't the type to listen into others' conversations, and even if he was, he certainly wasn't in the mood to. Since no one else was around, she decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

"Robin, has Batman said anything about me? I mean, I'm just asking because I overheard him and Black Canary talking and he said I had 'other training,' and I just...do you know what he meant by that? 'Cause I don't. Well, I mean I do but..." she trailed off, cursing herself silently as she twisted her words up, unable to get her question out clearly. She didn't want to tip Robin off if he didn't know, but she knew that by bringing it up, she'd undoubtably peaked his curiosity because apparently she was _physically unable_ to talk discreetly.

"Uh…" Robin hesitated. "Well, yes. And I mean, believe me, it was hard figuring out who you were, 'cause, you know, you don't really _exist._ No offense. And like, Waller buried Cadmus's files on you _deep,_ but - " he stopped suddenly, staring forward. "Robot monkeys!"

"What?" Mockingbird said, confused. She followed his gaze. "Oh… _oh."_ The truck as being attacked by green and black robots shaped like monkeys with a high-pitched, obnoxious laugh.

"Robin, Superboy, Mockingbird!" Aqualad's voice crackled over the comm. link. "Our truck is being attacked."

"Kind of figured!" Robin responded. Superboy was glaring at the truck as though personally offended by the robots. As it turned out, he was.

"I hate monkeys," Superboy muttered.

"Jeez," Mockingbird murmured under her breath, staring at the robots in shock. "Monkeys? Really? That's _t_ _otally_ Ivo's tweaked style _."_

"Agreed," Robin said. "Switch your bikes to battle mode!" Mockingbird nodded in acknowledgement, but Superboy had other plans.

"No need." Superboy leapt off his bike and onto the truck. Mockingbird's eyes widened and she let out a yelp as Superboy's abandoned bike swerved towards her, knocking her own out from underneath her body before both motorcycles slid into Robin's. The Boy Wonder launched his grappling hook onto the side of the truck, and Mockingbird snapped out her wings.

Or, she tried to.

Mockingbird yelled out again as she began to fall, the ground coming rapidly closer. The sensation of panicking while she fell was an odd one for her, but before she hit the ground, someone grabbed her wrist. Robin grunted, pulling her up and onto the bumper of the truck next to him.

"Thanks," she gasped. She stood shakily, stumbling as the truck swerved beneath her feet. Widening her stance and holding onto one edge of the truck, Mockingbird pulled out her gun from her thigh holster. As robot monkeys jumped at her head and hands, trying to knock her off the back of the truck, she shot them with her taser gun, shorting their circuits and rendering them ineffective.

"What happened with your wings?" the boy asked, kicking a robot away.

"Forgot to check if there were slits in the jacket," Mockingbird explained through gritted teeth as she began her ascent onto the roof of the truck. She had to move one-handed, as her right hand was still clutching the gun. "Evidently, there aren't." She gasped as she saw four monkey's holding Superboy up in the air, flying a little ways away in the opposite direction from the moving truck before dropping him onto the hard asphalt. The teenage clone grunted as he hit the ground, before standing up and glaring after the truck that was moving in the opposite direction. "Superboy!"

"He'll be fine," Robin reminded her. "We need to protect the android parts!" Mockingbird nodded, pulling herself onto the roof of the truck. Robin followed suit, whipping out his eskrima sticks and knocking robots aside. Mockingbird kicked one away, but three more jumped on her shoulders, giggling obnoxiously right in her ears. Their loud, high-pitched laughter was irritating. She shook herself from side to side, knocking them off and into Robin's swinging staff. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw two monkeys veer off towards the tires, rupturing them with their laser eyes. Robin saw it as well, and she heard him curse under his breath when he did.

"Robin, the driver!" She shouted, shooting another monkey. He nodded, scrambling down the side of the truck and banging on the door. Mockingbird watched as the Robin pulled the driver out of the window and watched as they launched themselves into the cornfields, but before she could follow suit, the truck was flipping over. She and Superboy were thrown off. Mockingbird hit the ground hard. Pain bloomed in her chest as something sharp pierced her side, and she gasped as the impact knocked the wind out of her lungs. Before either of them could move, the truck was flipping again, this time in their direction. The pain in her chest made it too difficult for her to move quickly.

 _Well,_ shit. _Guess t_ _his is how I die._

Before the impact occurred, she felt Superboy throw himself over her, taking the bulk of the collision. He flipped the truck off of the top of him almost immediately, growling. He swiped a hand over his eyes and squinted after the monkeys that were carrying away their precious cargo. Superboy jumped away after the monkeys, his large leaps quickly threatening to take him out of sight.

Mockingbird tried to sit up, pondering the likelihood of her ability to go after him and bring him back. She quickly decided that this would end poorly, upon not only realizing that her wings were still folded tightly against her back due to her slit-less jacket, but also feeling the full extent of her injury. A sharp pang of agony went through her side, begging for her attention. Looking down, Mockingbird realized that the sharp pain had been a piece of metal that had ripped a cut in her jacket and dug into the side of her chest. The cut was bleeding profusely, and she tried to staunch it with her hands, groaning. When she took a breath, she flinched in pain. A wave of fatigue crashed over her, and she leaned against the truck for support.

"Superboy!" Robin yelled. The clone ignored Robin, continuing to take giant leaps to follow the robots.

"Aqualad to Manhattan truck," their leader's voice sounded in her ear. "We've lost our cargo. Did you –"

"It's gone," Robin sighed. "And so's our partner."

"Aqualad to Superboy, radio your position. We'll help you."

"I don't need help!" Came the aggressive response. "Don't want it!" There was a crackling sound and then silence on Superboy's end.

"He ditched his comm.," Mockingbird rasped, still leaning against the wreckage of the truck. Robin looked over at her in concern, but she waved him off. "We won't be able to track him, unless M'gann can."

"He's out of my telepathic range," Miss Martian replied. "This Ivo, he always seems to be two steps ahead of us. Maybe…we should contact the Red Tornado." Even over the comm., Mockingbird could hear the concern and hesitation in her voice.

"Tornado always tells us to handle things ourselves," Aqualad reminded her. "And the mission can still succeed if we recover the parts before they are reassembled."

"Well, that's a _great_ plan!" Kid Flash said, voice heavy with sarcasm. "Except for the part about us not knowing _where to look_!" Mockingbird rested her head against the truck, trying to take short, shallow breaths. When she saw one of the destroyed monkeys, an idea began to bloom in her head.

"Maybe we do," she said cautiously. "Robin, come here." Robin knelt next to her when she beckoned him over. Mockingbird pointed to the robot that had caught her eye. "None of the decoy trucks were attacked – we would have heard about it. So, the monkeys must have been – "

"Tracking the parts! They must have GPS! And if the monkey's can track the signal, which means I can track _them_ with the one I captured," Robin raced over to the nearest robot and plugged in wire connected to his glove. "Mockingbird, you're a genius!" The blonde girl smiled slightly, still clutching her side. "Looks like both sets of parts are converging on…Gotham City!"

"That far south?" Aqualad sounded dismayed. "M'gann and I won't get there any time soon. I'm sending Kid on ahead to meet you."

"Great," Robin said, returning to Mockingbird's side. "With Superboy gone and Mockingbird K'O'ed like this, I think I'm gonna need some backup." Mockingbird scowled at her friend.

"I am not K'O'ed," she argued weakly, even though she totally was. She could barely move, and she was already feeling slightly dizzy from blood loss.

"Paityn, a _truck_ fell on you," Robin said. "How do you feel?" Mockingbird scooted forward the best she could, and with Robin's help got into a lying down position.

"Like I got run over by a truck," she quipped, smirking at him before gasping in pain. He narrowed his eyes at her, shaking his head, but his lips turned up slightly in a smile.

"Wow, _good_ one," he said sarcastically. "Besides, I don't think it was the truck that hurt you. I think it was the part where you ate pavement - hey!" Mockingbird was hitting Robin weakly, making him laugh. He sobered up quickly. "Seriously, what hurts?"

"Yeah, Superboy was a surprisingly good meat shield," she mused teasingly. "It's my chest," she added. "Laceration on the right side, probably about a half an inch deep, probably six, seven inches long. And some of my ribs feel at least bruised, possibly fractured." _God, I hope they're not fractured._ Robin frowned at her self-diagnosis. He leaned over and pressed down on her chest quickly. She gasped in pain, scowling at him.

"Yeah, sounds about right," he said. He helped her remove her heavy leather jacket and carefully cut off the tank top that she was wearing underneath it. He rummaged around in his pockets for a moment, and produced a tiny first aid kit. Robin clicked his tongue, looking concerned.

"What's wrong? Am I dying?" Mockingbird asked. Robin smirked at her.

"I see your twisted sense of humor is intact just fine. Hardly. It's just, well, that cut's is bleeding bad enough for me to want to wrap bandages around your chest and stomach to apply pressure to it…only problem is, since your ribs are hurt…"

"Doing that can cause pneumonia or lung infection," Mockingbird finished for him. She remembered that from the extensive first aid classes she'd been given first thing at A.R.G.U.S.. She flashed him a tired grin. "Your call, Doc." Robin nodded. He ended up binding the lower half of her cut and applying a large sterile pad to the top half. He handed her some small pills, which she swallowed dry. "How's my face looking?" She questioned, reaching up and touching a tender spot gently.

"Kinda like you pulled a Wally and ran into a solid wall," Robin teased her as he dabbed at some of the worse scrapes with antiseptic wipes. She smirked.

"Not too far from what actually happened." Sitting up with a grimace, she braced her forearm against her stomach and saw Robin bending over her jacket.

"How big would the slits for your wings need to be?" He asked. Mockingbird smiled slightly, taking the knife from him.

"Don't worry, I got it." With a practiced hand, she made two swift cuts in the heavy leather, before pulling it back onto her shoulders and zipping it up. "Thanks," she added. Robin looked up from where he was remotely calling the remains of their bikes and nodded. The dark-haired boy slipped Mockingbird's arm over his shoulders to help her walk, pulling her to her feet and pausing when she inhaled deeply, trying to acclimate to the new position without passing out or screaming in pain. Once she nodded at him, he began to walk slowly towards where their bikes had wrecked.

She paused and he turned to her. "I'm fine," she reassured him before he could speak. "Just...Robin, about earlier." Even without clarifying, she could tell from his expression that he knew what she meant by 'earlier.' Mockingbird had judged his cryptic, if incomplete, answer and deduced that Robin knew that she was associated with A.R.G.U.S., meaning that Batman probably knew. And if _Batman_ knew and he didn't care, she was _pretty sure_ that she had nothing to worry about. But she just wanted to check. "You, um..." She blamed the blood loss for her not knowing what to say. Luckily, she didn't have to. Robin began to walk again as he spoke.

"Don't worry, MB," he reassured her. "If you don't want the rest of the Team to know, I won't breathe a word. I'm good at keeping secrets," he added, smirking at her. Mockingbird nodded, letting out a silent breath of relief. "Batman knows too, by the way. He contacted Waller..." He eyed her, looking a little apprehensive. "He wouldn't tell me what went down between A.R.G.U.S. and the League, and I couldn't find it _anywhere._ Do you know?" Mockingbird sighed deeply, shaking her head.

"I know a little. Nothing exactly _went down_ ," she told him. "Amanda - that's Director Waller, I guess - is just...some of her _tactics_ were - are - questionable to the League." Robin nodded.

"This is definitely a disaster," he announced as they began their slow trudge back towards the wrecked bikes. Mockingbird let out a sharp bark of laughter, then a groan of pain as it hurt, which made Robin chuckle.

"Got that right," she said. " _Heavy_ on the _dis._ " Robin grinned.

* * *

Mockingbird and Robin were speeding along the roads towards Gotham. Robin had changed into his normal costume, but Mockingbird hadn't because of a) moving pain-free was quite difficult and b) again, her costume was not that different from the black leather motorcycle gear she already had on. Robin had been concerned about her ability to ride a motorcycle, but Mockingbird had pointed out that both of them on the same bike would just slow them down. Robin had reluctantly agreed, but refused to let her fly, despite her complaints that it would be much faster. He'd argued that if she lost consciousness in midair from pain or blood loss, she would injure herself further on the fall. He'd also diplomatically pointed out that he needed backup, and that they should stick together. Now, after riding for twenty minutes, Mockingbird was glad she'd listened to him. The painkillers had set it, so the pain was a just a resounding dull ache, but she was still exhausted from the initial agony and blood loss.

"So you changed too?" Robin called. Mockingbird looked to see whom he was talking to. Kid Flash had run up next to them, wearing his normal bright yellow jumpsuit.

"You kidding? I feel naked in civvies," the speedster responded. "You okay, MB?" he called to the girl, noting the scrapes and bruises on her face from where she'd essentially face planted and her torn costume. She nodded in response.

"Don't know how much help I'll be in a fight," she responded remorsefully. "But I'll live. Rob, you still tracking the parts?" "Yeah," he responded. "They were heading _through_ Gotham, but they veered." He squinted down at the screen and his eyes widened in shock.

"Dude! They're going to my – to Gotham Academy!" He quickly corrected himself with a nervous glance at Mockingbird. She ignored his slip. The least she could was pretend she hadn't heard Robin. _Although,_ she thought to herself, _I'd already guessed he went to Gotham Academy. Batman must have enough finances to back purchases like these motorcycles, and where would a rich guy who lives in Gotham send his kid? Only the most prestigious school in the city._

"Come on," she said, adjusting the course on her bike.

* * *

"Mockingbird, I hate to say this, but you'd better stay here," Robin said. "I've tracked the parts to the gym, and this is the closest you can be to them without getting involved in the fight. And – no offense – but I don't think you're up for a battle." Mockingbird sighed. She hated to admit it, _hated_ to be the 'damsel in distress,' but Robin was right. The most she'd do in the battle was put them in more danger by causing them to need to rescue her.

"Yeah, I know," she said. Clutching her side, she spread her wings and flew up, carefully situating herself in a tree. Once she was stable on her perch, she motioned to her bike. "There's a sniper rifle on the back of it. I'll watch from here, help if I can." Kid Flash nodded, pulling the gun off the back of the motorbike and handing it to her. "Good luck, guys." Kid Flash sped off, Robin following him with his grappling hook.

Mockingbird looked through the telescopic lens of the gun, using it like a pair of binoculars to see what was going on. She could see Robin, Superboy, and Kid Flash struggling in the fight against the android. At one point, he scooped up Kid Flash and began to squeeze. Mockingbird could see the speedster's face contorted with pain. She focused the lens of the gun, pointing it at the android. She took a little extra time, concerned that if she were too hasty, she would hit Kid Flash instead of the android. Before she could pull the trigger, an arrow came flying out of nowhere. The android turned intangible, probably mimicking the power of a Martian, and Kid Flash slipped out of his grasp.

Mockingbird set her gun down, frowning. The arrow had been green – was the League following them? She slipped out of the tree, moving quickly towards where the arrow had been shot. She went around to the far side of the gym, slipping in the broken window as quietly as possible. Expecting to see Green Arrow, and perhaps Batman, she stifled a gasp when instead she saw a girl about her age with a long blonde ponytail and a green costume. She had a quiver slung across her back, and a compound bow in her hands. She had another arrow knocked in the bow, but turned around when she heard the gasp. Her eyes widened when she saw Mockingbird and then widened even further when she saw her wings. _Right, Paityn, you're not a_ public _hero, she has no idea who you are._

"W – who are you?" the girl asked, before steeling herself and speaking with more confidence. "Why are you here?" Mockingbird shrugged, tapping the pistol strapped to her thigh pointedly. Seeing as this girl had just saved Kid Flash's life, she doubted she was a threat, but it didn't hurt to be intimidating. Especially because Mockingbird knew she looked a little worse for wear at that moment. The green-clad girl looked at the gun and swallowed hard, moving a hand to her bow defensively.

"Could ask the same for you," Mockingbird answered. The girl scowled at her.

"Listen, you saw _nothing_ , okay?" The girl moved towards the broken window. Mockingbird chose not to answer. This frustrated the strange archer. "Promise me you won't say anything!" The shorter haired blonde shrugged.

"I'm not big on breaking promises, and I can't break a promise I don't make," she replied. "You should go."

"IT MAKES ME ANGRY!" A voice yelled. Superboy. Mockingbird rushed over to look onto the court, wincing when the jolt sent pain through the side of her body. Superboy had smashed his fists into the place Ivo had been seconds before. "WANT TO SEE ME CHANNEL THAT ANGER?" Mockingbird watched in amazement as Superboy punched the intangible android, which, unfortunately for it, had returned to its normal density just as Superboy plunged his fist into the robot. It's head exploded, and the headless android fell to the ground.

"Help me disassemble it!" Robin yelled, rushing over. Mockingbird turned towards the archer, who was still standing there, eyes wide with shock.

"Leave now, archer girl," Mockingbird suggested, spreading her wings. "I won't say anything that will come to cause you harm. I promise that." The archer hesitated; then, upon realizing that was the best deal she'd received, nodded and ducked through the broken window before disappearing. The winged girl flew down the bleachers, moving to Robin's side to help him with dismantling the android.

"Guys, it has no head," Kid Flash pointed out, holding his arm.

"Cockroaches can live without heads," Mockingbird reminded him. "Maybe this thing can, too."

"Agreed. Do not take any chances," Aqualad ordered as he ran across the gym with Miss Martian in tow.

"Superboy, are you alright?" the green-skinned girl landed next to the clone, supporting him as he stood up shakily.

"Fine," he said. "Feeling the aster," he joked, looking towards Robin and Mockingbird. Robin grinned at the blonde girl.

"See? My words are catchy! First you, and now Superboy!" Mockingbird rolled her eyes, laughing as she worked on the android, pulling its arm off and setting it to the side.

"I never said they weren't catchy, I just said they weren't grammatically correct."

"Grammar, schammar," Robin muttered.

"Hang on a minute," Kid Flash interrupted their banter. "Where's Ivo?" Mockingbird's hands stilled and she looked up in confusion. Sure enough, the gym was strangely empty of supposedly dead, annoying inventors.

 _Well, shit._

* * *

 **MOUNT JUSTICE**

 **AUGUST 4, 01:06 EDT**

"The Amazo android is in pieces again, currently being analyzed at the two separate S.T.A.R. Labs. But Ivo escaped. Since he originated the tech, he's arguably more dangerous than the android," their Atlantean leader recounted their mission to the five members of the League present – Vixen had left – and Kitsune. Mockingbird had had her injuries tended to by a more practiced hand than Robin's rush job, and after a few stiches, a blood transfusion, and some stronger painkillers, already felt much better than she had a few hours ago.

"Capturing the Professor will be a League priority," Black Canary told the Team.

"But we understand that your mission encountered _other_ complications," the Martian Manhunter said, sounding stern. Everyone looked towards Superboy, who glanced at the ground.

"But complications come with the job," Batman said, stepping forward. "Your ability to handle them has impressed the League." Superbly's looked up slightly.

"The whole League?" he asked, voice betraying hope.

"Given time, yes," Batman told the boy. "Kryptonians, as you know, have very hard heads." Superboy smiled, his face relaxing, and the last bit of tension in his shoulder relaxing. "But there's no shame in asking for help, that's why the League exists," Batman reminded the Team. His eyes flicked to Mockingbird when he said this, probably referrirng to her injury. "Because there are some problems even we can't handle individually."

"Please!" Robin said, surprising Mockingbird. "If we needed help, we'd never get the chance to ask!" He pulled the arrow out of his belt and brandished at the adults. "Look familiar? You were following us! Baby-sitting, you still don't trust us!" As Robin ranted, Batman handed the arrow to Green Arrow silently. The blonde man inspected it, pulling out an arrow of his own to compare.

"We didn't follow you," Batman said. Green Arrow held the arrows side by side to display the differences between the two. The one Robin had picked up had smooth head and a lighter colored shaft, but the head of Arrow's was ridged, and the shaft of the arrow was made of a different, darker wood. The feathers were also slightly different.

"And…that's not your arrow," Robin said, noting the differences. Then, seeming to come to a realization, he beamed. "But that means!"

"Speedy!" Kid Flash exclaimed, a broad grin stretched across his face.

"He has our backs," Aqualad said, sounding just as pleased as Kid Flash did, although his excitement was more contained. The redheaded speedster snatched the arrow from Green Arrow's grasp.

"Souvenir!" Mockingbird shifted her weight, remembering the girl and her promise to her. She felt as though she should bring the strange girl to Batman's attention, but she didn't want to burst her friends' bubble. Her fidgeting did not go unnoticed by Batman.

"You are dismissed," he told the Team. "Get some rest. Mockingbird, before you go…" The girl nodded, moving off to talk to the two older heroes. Her friends barely noticed her being called aside – they were too busy celebrating the idea that their friend was looking out for them.

"You don't think it's Roy's, that is, Speedy's arrow," Green Arrow said. It was a statement, not a question. Mockingbird shrugged, glancing to the side.

"I've never met him, but from what I've gathered, green isn't really your ex-protégés color," Mockingbird drawled slightly. "I'll tell you what I know, but on one condition." Batman's eyes narrowed. He clearly didn't appreciate the insinuation that she was ordering him around. "I promised the owner of that arrow that my speaking about her wouldn't cause her any trouble. If I talk, will you help me uphold this promise?" Batman and Green Arrow exchanged a glance before nodding.

"Okay," Mockingbird said. "There was this girl…"

* * *

 **MOUNT JUSTICE**

 **AUGUST 4, 03:57**

Akari collapsed against the sofa, groaning. She'd basically been training non-stop since that botched mission to Santa Prisca. She was seeing improvement already. Her frenzy to feed every time she fought was subsiding, but there were still times where she lost control and couldn't tell what was happening. Mari, aka Vixen, was surprisingly helpful despite having always been in total control of her powers due to them coming from a source – the Anansi Totem. Earlier today, Vixen had suggested trying something new. Something exhausting.

 _The rest of the Team had been gone for a few hours so far, and Akari was getting bored. Mari had let her take a half-hour break, fed-up after hearing Akari whine for twenty minutes straight. Not even ten minutes into said break, Akari was bored and wishing that she'd continued training with the older woman. She also wished she hadn't been such a brat._

 _"Akari?" Mari called. Her footsteps halted and she looked down at the Asian girl, who was sprawled across the sofa. Mari took a seat in one of the chairs. "I'm sorry I snapped at you." Akari shrugged._

 _"Not like I didn't deserve it. I'm sorry too." Mari nodded._

 _"It's okay. I know you're frustrated, and I know you're bored because you can't go on any missions. But you really are improving. I really think it would help if you tried focusing your power into some sort of weapon." Akari sat up._

 _"I know. But I don't like relying on tools. Besides, I suck at using weapons. Cadmus tried." That wasn't completely true. Before Cadmus had kidnapped her, Akari had been very skilled at fighting with a sword. But she had only ever fought with one certain sword before, and she didn't want to try using another._

 _"So you say," Mari said. She ran a hand through her short hair. "You know, I almost wonder if this would help…" Her voice trailed off before continuing. "When I look at you with the eyes of an animal," here she reflexively touched the totem on her neck. "I can see this aura around you – the aura of a fox. I wonder…I wonder if trying to project it around you in an astral form would help." Akari sat up, intrigued._

 _"I…I've never tried that before," she admitted. "Do you think it would work?" Mari shrugged, standing._

 _"Only one way to find out. Are you ready to get back to work?"_

The projection definitely made her stronger and helped with her control, as she had to enter a meditative state to achieve the projection, but it was exhausting. Even so, when she'd tried to go to sleep, her mind had been racing too much for her to fall asleep, as though all the thoughts she'd blocked from her head earlier that day were coming back. After tossing and turning for almost an hour, she'd come out into the living room, hoping to find something on TV.

Superboy jolted Akari out her thoughts when he flopped down next to her. She turned to look at him, surprised.

"You're not asleep?" She asked.

"Obviously not," he replied, but his tone was good-natured. "Neither are you." Akari nodded. He looked her up and down, his scrutinizing gaze making her squirm slightly. "I noticed you limping earlier today. Are you alright?" Akari sighed, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I heal quickly. It's just that Vixen's tough on me, but it's working." Superboy smiled at her. His eyes were drawn with fatigue, but he looked happy.

"I know the feeling." The two sat in silence for a minute before Superboy spoke again. "I…was working with Black Canary." He flashed a rueful smile at Akari, dropping his gaze to his lap. "Guess I have a few problems with control, too." Akari moved, unwrapping one of her arms from her knees and brushing his shoulder with her fingertips. Superboy stiffened at the contact initially, but then relaxed.

"Well, would you look at that," she mused, leaning closer to him. "Guess we have more in common than meets the eye." Superboy met her gaze and grinned back at her.

"Guess we do."

* * *

 **So yeah. Sorry if this chapter isn't great, this** **episode isn't my favorite, so I may have subconsciously rushed through it. Anyways, I just googled information about broken ribs so it's highly possible that some, if not all, of the information is incorrect. Please feel free to correct me if it is! As always, please leave a review and tell me what you think - I'd really appreciate the feedback.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice**

* * *

 **MOUNT JUSTICE**

 **AUGUST 8, 09:58**

"Akari?" Someone knocked on her door. "You almost ready?" Akari nodded reflexively, even though she knew that the person on the other side of the door couldn't see her.

"I'll be out in a second, M'gann!" Akari called back, rubbing the last bit of sunscreen into her skin. When the Team had made plans to go to the beach, Wally had been extremely excited – only to realize that he had school the same day they'd made their plans. Paityn had ducked out on their plans at the last second, telling the Team that something came up. Akari assumed that Paityn had meant an A.R.G.U.S. mission.

The Asian girl got to her feet, tossing the bottle of suntan lotion into her tote bag and slinging it across her shoulder. She slid her feet into flip-flops and opened the door. M'gann and Superboy were waiting for her in the hall. Akari fought a blush that rose to her cheeks when she noticed that Superboy was shirtless. Even though, _duh,_ they were going to the _beach,_ she should have expected it. Tugging her sunglasses over her eyes and fiddling with the strap of her bag to hide her pink cheeks, Akari nodded a greeting to her friends. "Are we going, then?" She asked, struggling to sound casual.

"Robin and Aqualad are waiting in the briefing room," M'gann chirped as the three teens began walking away from Akari's bedroom. "Come on!" The enthusiastic Martian flew down the hallway, leaving Superboy and Akari to jog after her. By the time they had caught up with M'gann and the other two boys, they were outside. " _Hello,_ Megan!" M'gann said, spreading her hands with outmost joy. "We should hit the beach _every_ day!"

Robin lowered his head, placing a hand over his heart in mock despair. "But first…a moment of silence for our _absent_ comrade." M'gann's smile faded and she shook her head sympathetically.

"Poor Wally," she intoned compassionately. She paused, biting her lip and looking guilty. "Maybe we should have waited until this weekend to go to the beach. You know, so he could come. Especially after Paityn said she couldn't make it." Akari shrugged.

"He'll live," she said. "So will Tori. Besides, we can come back another time with them." She kicked of her sandals, digging her toes into the hot sand and relishing the feeling. "Race ya to the water!"

* * *

Mockingbird entered the briefing room with a yawn. The double missions she was doing for A.R.G.U.S. and for the Team was really taking a toll on her. As of right now, she'd been up for twenty-two hours straight, _and_ she was still recovering from her injuries from the fight against Ivo's robot monkeys. Mockingbird did heal at a slightly faster rate than the average human – Cadmus seemed to like that trait or invulnerability in its 'projects' – but she was still quite sore. Instead of Amanda's voice on the PA system calling her for a mission briefing disrupting her sleep, it had been Batman's gruff voice in the comm. that woke her up from a quick nap. He requested her presence in uniform at the Cave. The minute she stepped through the Zeta Beam she knew why.

The blonde girl she'd met who was reminiscent of Green Arrow was standing next to said archer. Her expression was cool and collected, her stormy eyes calculating. Kitsune was locked in a heated debate against Vixen and Batman. Since she was in uniform, it didn't take much to guess what the three were fighting about. Mockingbird walked over to her friends, but before she could greet them or the new girl, the Zeta Tube powered up again.

 _Recognized: Kid Flash, B-03._ "The Wall-Man is here!" Wally exclaimed. Mockingbird suppressed a giggle when she saw his attire. He clearly hadn't gotten the memo to dress in uniform. Instead of his Kid Flash ensemble, the ginger speedster was wearing red and yellow swim trunks and sunglasses. He had a smear of sunscreen on his nose, and was carrying a bunch of beach stuff in his hands – a cooler, an umbrella, a speaker. "Let's get this party star – " Wally tripped over the umbrella that was dragging on the ground and hit the floor hard, sending his things flying across the ground and through the air. The beach ball that had been in his hands bounced away, narrowly missing Batman's head, who, by the way, did not look amused. " – ted?" Wally offered, green eyes wide with chagrin.

"Wall-Man, huh?" The new girl spoke up. She was smirking, eyes shining with amusement. "Wow, _love_ the uniform. What, exactly, are your powers?" Wally scowled, pushing himself to his feet. He brushed himself off, clearly trying to gain back some of the dignity he'd lost.

"Uh, who's this?" He motioned to the girl. Wally had directed his question to Aqualad, but the new girl answered instead.

"Artemis," she introduced herself. "Your new teammate!" She seemed quite pleased with herself, probably because she was able to throw Wally off.

"Kid Flash," Wally introduced himself. "Never heard of you." Artemis's smile disappeared and she scowled at the ginger.

"Uh, she's my new protégé," Green Arrow stepped into the argument, placing his hand on Artemis's shoulder, either as a way to calm her down or as a motion of affection. _Probably both,_ Mockingbird decided.

"What? What happened to your old one?" Wally asked, losing his composure. The other members of the Team looked startled as well. Even Kitsune, who didn't know Speedy, stopped arguing with Batman and Vixen to pay attention to the conversation. Mockingbird, too, watched the exchange with interest.

 _Recognized: Speedy, B-06_. "Well, for starters," the archer strode out of the Zeta Tube, a dark frown etched deeply onto his face. "He doesn't go by _Speedy_ anymore. Call me Red Arrow." Mockingbird had to dig her teeth into her lip to keep her face expressionless. _Bet that name didn't take much time or creativity_. She didn't voice this thought, not wanting the Red Arrow's first impression of her to be a bad one.

"Roy," Green Arrow's voice was surprised. Judging by the eldest archer's reaction and the recount Mockingbird's friends have given her of what had happened at the hall, Red and Green Arrow hadn't ended their partnership on good terms. "You look –"

"Replaceable?" Red Arrow sneered at his former mentor. Even though he sounded angry, and Mockingbird guessed that he was more than a little hurt.

"It's not like that!" The eldest archer protested, stepping forward to chastise the eighteen year old. "You told me you were going solo." The redhead scoffed, looking away from Green Arrow.

"Yeah, so why waste time finding a sub?" His voice was harsh and bitter. "Can she even _use_ that bow?" Red Arrow leaned forward, scowling at the younger blonde. Artemis's grip tightened on said weapon, and she clenched her jaw, stepping forward.

"Yes, _she_ can," Artemis snapped. Wally spread his arms in exasperation, shaking his head.

"Who _are_ you _?"_ He demanded, stepping forward. Mockingbird noticed a half second of discomfort cross Artemis's face before she answered quickly. Too quickly.

"I'm his niece," Artemis stated, gesturing to Green Arrow. She said this at the same time that the older archer confirmed: "She's my niece." Robin crossed his arms, smiling.

"Another niece?" He asked, sounding partially amused and partially dubious. Or maybe it was just Mockingbird that was dubious. The blonde was watching the exchange with her head cocked. She _definitely_ didn't remember Artemis saying she was Green Arrow's niece when they'd first met. She also didn't remember Green Arrow saying Artemis was his niece, or even that he knew who she was, when Mockingbird had told Batman and him about her. That, along with the flash of uneasiness Artemis had displayed, led Mockingbird to believe that something wasn't right. She'd have to ask Artemis about it later.

Aqualad, as usual, decided to play his role as mediator. The Atlantean teen stepped forward, placing his hand on Red Arrow's shoulder to comfort his friend. "But she is not your replacement," he assured the other boy. "We have always wanted you on the Team, and we have no quota on archers."

"Yeah, and if we did, you know who'd we pick," Kid Flash decided to add his own two cents to the conversation. Mockingbird flashed a look at Artemis to see if this statement upset her, but she didn't appear to be annoyed in the slightest.

"Whatever, Baywatch," Artemis drawled, crossing her arms over her chest, a self-satisfied smirk plastered to her face. "I'm here to stay." Red Arrow started to walk away, but Aqualad caught his arm.

"You came to us for a reason?" He asked his friend, reminding him that he hadn't come just to bicker. The archer nodded affirmatively, returning to business.

"Yeah. A reason named Doctor Serling Roquette." The name caught Mockingbird's attention, and she raised her eyebrows. However, Robin beat her to the punch.

"Nano-robotics genius and claytronics expert at Royal University in Star City!" Robin pulled up files on the young woman and displayed them across the holographic screens in the Cave. "Vanished two weeks ago."

" _Abducted_ two weeks ago," Red Arrow corrected, somewhat snottily. "By the League of Shadows." Mockingbird's eyebrows raised again. She couldn't help it, she was _extremely_ surprised that this belligerent hero was willing to give up a mission against the Shadows to a Team he didn't want to be on – even if the members of the Team were his friends.

"Woah, you want us to rescue her from the Shadows?" Kitsune spoke for the first time, sounding awed. She ignored the pointed looks that both Batman and Vixen threw at her.

"Hardcore," Kid Flash agreed, slapping Robin five. Red Arrow shook off their statements, waving a hand dismissively as he continued talking.

"I already rescued her." _Ah,_ Mockingbird thought, _that makes more sense._ "Only one problem. The Shadows had already coerced her into creating a weapon." Another file popped up, this one displaying detailed diagrams of a nano-tech weapon shaped like small bugs. "Doc calls it the Fog," Red Arrow continued. "Comprised of millions of microscopic robots, nano-tech infiltrators. Capable of disintegrating anything in their path – concrete, steel, flesh, bone." _Well_ , _that's_ _not_ _good_. "But it's true purpose isn't destruction, it's theft." _Aaaaaand it gets better._ "The infiltrators eat and store raw data from any computer system, and deliver the stolen info to the Shadows."

"So this invention provides some of the worst villains in existence with strategic defense, weapons, _and_ cutting-edge science and tech?" Mockingbird summed up. "Not to mention that it's a weapon in itself." Red Arrow tossed her a sharp look, but nodded.

"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power broking…" Artemis listed. "Yeah. Sounds like the Shadows." Kid Flash snorted rudely from behind her.

"Yeah. Like _you_ know anything about the Shadows," he scoffed derisively. Artemis just shrugged, smirking at Kid Flash knowingly. The speedster growled, once again losing his cool over the new girl. "Who. Are. You?!"

"Roquette's working on a virus that will render the Fog inert," Red Arrow told the Team, ignoring Kid Flash's outburst. Robin picked up on the hidden meaning behind Red Arrow's words.

"But if the Shadow's know she can do that…" Robin trailed off, and Red Arrow nodded affirmatively.

"They'll target her. Right now, she's off the grid. I stashed her at the local high school's computer lab."

"You left her alone?" Green Arrow disapproved. Red Arrow scowled at the hooded archer, shrugging his shoulders defensively.

"She's safe enough for now."

"Then let's you and I keep her that way," Green Arrow pleaded with the other archer, seeming desperate to make amends. Mockingbird noticed a flash of irritation cross Artemis's face as she lowered her bow.

"You and I?" Red Arrow mocked. "Don't you want to take your new protégé?" Green Arrow seemed to be about to argue with the redhead, but Batman placed a hand on his shoulder, reminding him silently of what Red Arrow was there to do, what Artemis was there to do, and what the Team was there to do. Green Arrow glanced at the ground and took a deep breath.

"You brought this to the Team," he said, sounding regretful. "It's their mission. Which means it's hers now, too." These words didn't seem to come to Green Arrow easily, but they still made Red Arrow scoff.

"Psh. Then my job's done." He stalked towards the Zeta Tube, hostility radiating off of him in waves.

"Recognized: Speedy –" Here, the archer cut off the machine.

"That's Red Arrow, B-08. Update." The Zeta Beam flashed, and the sulky archer vanished. There was a moment of silence before Green Arrow cleared his throat, trying to dispel any awkwardness.

"Well, Batman? Should the Team go?" The Dark Knight nodded tersely, facing the Team.

"Kid Flash, get in uniform," he ordered. The speedster nodded, cheeks flushing slightly. He sped off in a blur, returning in just a few seconds clad in his normal brightly colored jumpsuit. Batman nodded approvingly before speaking again. "Team, move out and switch to stealth mode. Kitsune, you _are_ staying here." The Asian girl crossed her arms, a mutinous look plastered on her face.

"I'll said I'd stay," she muttered, walking away. "But I didn't say I'd be happy about it." Mockingbird frowned slightly, worried about her friend.

"Is she going to be okay?" To Mockingbird's surprise, it was Superboy who voiced the question. Unperturbed by all the eyes on him, he continued. "She looks upset." Batman looked at Vixen, who winced and shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't worry about Akari," she assured the Team. "She's just disappointed. Continue with your mission, and I'll speak to her." Vixen began to walk after Akari, and Batman faced the remaining superhero teenagers.

"Move out," he ordered.

* * *

 **HAPPY HARBOR**

 **AUGUST 8, 21:59 EDT**

Mockingbird was on lookout with Miss Martian and Superboy. She was currently standing on the roof, binoculars raised to her eyes as she strained her sight for any sign of the Shadows. Her wings were slightly out, so they were visible and ready for flight at any moment, should she see an enemy.

" _Everyone online?"_ Miss Martian's voice rang through Mockingbird's head, only startling her slightly. Aqualad must have given the order for the mental link.

" _Ugh, this is weird,"_ Artemis's voice echoed through Mockingbird's head. The rest of the Team had gotten used to the mildly invasive feeling of the link, but it would probably take Artemis a little longer yet.

" _And distracting."_ Mockingbird and the rest of the Team had quickly discovered that Doctor Roquette was quick to grumble. The blonde rolled her eyes as the woman continued to whine. " _Coding a distributing algorithm virus on a kiddie computer with less ram than a wristwatch is hard enough. Now I have to hear teen-think in my skull?"_

 _"Lady, do you always complain so much when someone tries to help you?"_ Kid Flash asked, sounding irritated by the doctor's lack of gratitude.

 _"Pot, kettle. Have you met?"_ Mockingbird bit back a snicker at Artemis's comment, before groaning inwardly as Kid Flash began to argue back.

" _Hey, hey. I do not need attitude from the newbie who drove Red Arrow of the Team!"_

 _"Oh, that is_ so _not on me!"_ Artemis defended herself, rightfully so. From what Mockingbird had heard, it didn't sound like Red Arrow had wanted to be on the Team in the first place. Sure, maybe it didn't help that he had been 'replaced' or whatever, but that didn't mean he had to be such a dick about it. It also didn't mean that _Kid_ _Flash_ should be a dick about it to Artemis.

 _"Fate of the world – at stake!"_ As irritating as Doctor Roquette was, she did have a point there. Kid Flash and Artemis arguing was certainly not helping their mission, and was probably distracting the doctor. Mockingbird knew that it was distracting her.

" _She started it,"_ Kid Flash muttered, petulant. Mockingbird heard Artemis sigh over the mental link.

" _How about I just go help Superboy, Miss Martian, and Mockingbird patrol the perimeter?"_

 _"Good idea."_ Even Aqualad, their stoic and polite leader sounded at his wits end with the Team's arguing.

" _Come on, KF, cut her some slack,"_ Mockingbird chided her friend. _"It was her arrow that saved your ass from Amazo."_ Mockingbird could feel Kid Flash's indignant feelings through the mental link.

" _What? No! That was Speedy's – I mean Red Arrow's – arrow. Right?"_ Mockingbird laughed a little. _Someone's in denial,_ she thought to herself.

" _Yeah, not so much,"_ Robin told his friend, also sounding amused.

" _Come on, KF, his name's_ Red _Arrow. What do you expect?"_ Mockingbird teased the speedster.

" _Huh."_ Kid Flash sounded unimpressed. " _Well, I'm still not giving her the satisfaction."_

 _"I can ~hear~ you,"_ Artemis sing-songed, reminding Kid Flash that ear-range wasn't a thing on the mental link. Mockingbird laughed slightly as she heard Wally groan, her sensitive ears picking up his yell of frustration from inside the building.

" _I couldn't get the Justice League,"_ Roquette griped. Aqualad seemed to reach the end of his rope, stepping in to the conversation to restore order.

" _The virus will not be of much use if we cannot find the weapon,"_ the Atlantean reminded the Doctor and the Team. _"Can you track it?"_

 _"My utility fog is not a weapon,"_ Roquette said brattily. " _It's science._ Brilliant _science. And of course I can track it, but I'd have to go online. Might as well rent a billboard with this address and 'Assassinate me' in neon."_

" _We_ will _protect you,"_ Aqualad said, his usual calm tone no doubt comforting the Doctor. There was a moment of silence, and the Doctor spoke again, sounding resigned but reassured.

" _Tracking Fog now."_

 _"Mockingbird, Superboy, Miss Martian, Artemis. Be on high alert. The Shadows will now know where we are."_ Mockingbird nodded to herself, standing up from her crouched position and walking across to the other side of the roof. She dropped down to the ground, spreading her wings ever so slightly to soften the fall, saving her _highly_ destructible knees from the harsh impact. Superboy landed next to her, and the two teens fanned out from Artemis and Miss Martian. Mockingbird noticed that Artemis's eyes followed Superboy.

" _Mmm…that boy,"_ the archer said approvingly. Superboy froze, glancing back at Artemis with clear discomfort evident on his face.

" _He can hear you. We can all hear you."_ Miss Martian sounded annoyed, probably by the fact that someone else on the Team was interested in Superboy. Akari's attraction to the clone was subtle enough that Miss Martian probably hadn't noticed, but it seemed that Artemis didn't bother with subtlety.

" _Oh, I know."_ Miss Martian frowned, her usual cheery expression angry.

" _Miss Martian, Doctor Roquette has located the Fog,"_ Aqualad broke up the potential argument between the two girls before it could flare. " _Reconfigure the BioShip so that Robin, Superboy, and Mockingbird can pursue._ " The winged girl stood up at the mention of her name, flying at a low altitude towards the ship, Robin and Superboy running by her side.

"I'll pilot," Robin volunteered, sitting down at the helm. Mockingbird nodded, sitting down in the nearest chair and clipping the seatbelt together.

"Where are we headed?" Superboy asked, doing the same. Robin pointed the holographic screen on his glove towards Superboy and Mockingbird. Their destination, a S.T.A.R. Labs Facility in Philadelphia, was displayed on the screen. Robin put his hands on the two glowing orbs next to the pilots seat, steering the ship on to their trajectory.

"Robin to Aqualad, we're over Philadelphia. The Shadow's next target is S.T.A.R. Labs." Mockingbird peered out the window of the BioShip, and her heart dropped. The building was crumbling to the ground, the Fog having reduced it to complete rubble.

"We're too late," she breathed out, shocked. "It's completely destroyed." Mockingbird heard Robin repeating her analysis to Aqualad.

"This is bad," he said. "S.T.A.R. Labs is cutting-edge science, and now their secrets are in the hands of the enemy." Mockingbird swallowed hard, picturing the amount of destruction the Shadows could bring with this amount of resources.

"What's our next move?" she asked, pressing down on the communicator in her ear so Aqualad would hear her question.

"Re-scan for that Fog," he ordered. "Find it. We're moving the Doctor." Mockingbird nodded to herself, turning towards her two partners.

"Roger that, Aqualad. Robin, switch with me. You'll be quicker at tracking." The acrobat nodded, getting up from the pilots seat and pulling up the screen on his glove instantaneously. Mockingbird sat down at the helm, adjusting to guiding the ship in the direction she wanted it to go in. It wasn't as difficult as she'd thought it would be. Robin's fingers halted on the keys and he gasped.

"What is it?" Superboy asked, turning towards the Boy Wonder. He looked at them, horrified.

"The next target is a Wayne Tech Facility," he informed them. Mockingbird set the BioShip on course for the particular facility being targeted as Robin continued speaking. "In theory, it's software could be used to hack the –" He paused, seeming to remember himself and his situation.

"The what?" Superboy asked, sounding concerned. Robin shook his head, dismissing the question.

"Doesn't matter. What matters is that Wayne Tech operates under a twenty-four hour workforce." Mockingbird's eyes widened and she let out a low whistle, following his point.

"We'll never get everybody out in time," she said grimly. "Which leaves us with only one option – stop the Fog before the building collapses." Robin nodded, standing up.

"Agreed." Robin pressed a finger to the comm. link in his ear. "Aqualad, what's the status on that virus? Aqualad?" Robin swore under his breath. "No response." Mockingbird left the helm, letting the BioShip hover in camouflage mode above the building. As Robin desperately tried to pull up his own information on the pending virus, Mockingbird opened the hatch in the BioShip, spreading her wings slightly for balance against the wind that came rushing in.

"Robin…" she said warningly, reminding him that they didn't have much time.

"I know, I know," he muttered, fingers flying over the keys. "Almost there…got it!" Robin looked up. "The virus is downloading." Mockingbird glanced over her shoulder. A Shadow had opened the door to the grey can that they'd been tailing and was unloading a small canister. She recognized the villain as Professor Ojo.

"Don't need it!" Superboy yelled, as usual jumping ahead of the plan.

"Superboy!" Mockingbird shouted fruitlessly after their partner as he leapt out of the BioShip. She winced as Ojo spotted Superboy and promptly blasted him with a beam of red energy. Superboy landed on the asphalt of the parking lot with a loud thud, cracking the pavement around him. Unlike usual, he didn't get up straight away.

"No!" Robin shouted. Mockingbird tore her eyes off Superboy's prone body and followed Robin's gaze. Ojo had released the Fog, and it was headed straight for Wayne Tech. Robin reached for his grappling hook, jumping out of the BioShip. Mockingbird followed suit, angling her wings downward in a controlled fall.

"I'm helping Superboy!" she called after Robin, landing next to the clone.

"Acknowledged!" Robin responded as he sprinted towards the building. Mockingbird knelt next to Superboy, who despite being indestructible, seemed to have been hit pretty hard. He sat up, groaning in pain, and Mockingbird pulled him to his feet.

"I'll cause a distraction," she told him. "Can you take him out?" Superboy nodded slowly, straightening up and standing on his own. Mockingbird flew towards Ojo, and his helmet glowed red. At the very last moment, the girl swerved out of the way, dodging the attack. Suddenly, she realized that Ojo's attention was no longer on her. Mockingbird glanced back at Wayne Tech, noticing with satisfaction that the Fog was glowing red and crumbling before her very eyes. "Looks like your toy's broken, Ojo," she taunted the villain, flying closer. He growled, attempting to blast her again. Mockingbird's reaction time was slightly slower than before, and she winced as the hot energy brushed the tip of her wing, singing the feathers and stinging the skin underneath. _Come on, Superboy_ , she willed him silently. _Let's end this._ As if responding to her mental command, Superboy leapt out of nowhere, slamming his fists down onto Ojo's head, and the man crumpled to the ground.

"Nice work," Superboy said, smiling at her. She grinned back, pulling her wings in and landing.

"Thanks. You too." Mockingbird pulled a pair of handcuffs out of her belt and clipped them around Professor Ojo's wrists. She nodded an acknowledging hello to the security guards who came to pick up the villain. Robin did his ninja-thing, coming out go nowhere and landing next to them, retracting the line from his grappling hook back and putting it back on his belt.

"Shall we?" he asked, gesturing to the BioShip. Then, he frowned. "Huh. I don't think my grappling line is long enough to get me back up." Mockingbird stifled a giggle.

"I got you," she said, then hesitated. "I mean, if you don't mind." Robin shook his head, grinning at her.

"By all means." Mockingbird walked up behind Robin, lifting just a little off of the ground because she wasn't that much taller than Robin. She hooked her arms underneath his armpits and crossed them across his chest to lock him in place. "Hang on," she reminded him, before glancing back at their other partner. "Superboy, you good?" The clone narrowed his eyes, gauging the distance.

"I think I'm good," he replied, backing up a few steps. "And I'll beat you up there, too." Mockingbird snorted, flapping her wings harder than normal to make up for the added weight. Once they'd ascended about twenty feet, Superboy came flying past them. He just barely grabbed hold of the edge of the BioShip, but he managed to dig his fingers into the side of the ship and pull himself up. Mockingbird reached the landing a few moments later, letting go of Robin and closing the hatch. Superboy looked at her with poorly concealed satisfaction.

"I win." Mockingbird rolled her eyes.

"I never agreed to a race!" Superboy smirked.

"So? I still win." The blonde girl shook her head, laughing at his antics as she headed towards the cockpit.

"Come on, you guys. Let's get back to the Cave. I, for one, could use a nice, long, _uninterrupted_ sleep."

* * *

 **MOUNT JUSTICE**

 **AUGUST 9, 00:53 EDT**

Unfortunately, Mockingbird's long-anticipated sleep was further denied. She watched drowsily as Aqualad and Robin debriefed with Batman, not bothering to add much to the conversation. She did listen up for Batman to dismiss them, and when he did, she immediately headed for the Zeta-Tube. But before stepping into the Tube, Mockingbird remembered that she hadn't spoken with Artemis yet.

"Hey!" She called out, jogging after the taller girl. Artemis turned towards her, looking mildly suspicious.

"Um...hi," she responded, sounding unsure. Mockingbird ran her fingers through her hair, trying to find the right words. She felt bad about attacking Artemis about her and Green Arrow's relationship without even being friendly first, but she didn't have much experience talking to people her own age besides her friends on the Team. Talking to Artemis, a newcomer, was nerve-wracking and unfamiliar, and Mockingbird wasn't exactly sure how to handle proper etiquette.

"Yeah. Well, I didn't get a chance to say hello earlier, so I just wanted to say welcome to the Team." Artemis's shoulders relaxed.

"Oh. That's okay. I heard that it was you who convinced Batman and Gre - and my uncle to give me chance." Artemis sounded relieved, but Mockingbird cheered silently. Artemis had just given her an in.

"Yeah, sorry about being so - threatening, I guess - on our first meeting. I was just wary - you didn't mention Green Arrow at all," Mockingbird said as casually as she could. She noticed Artemis tense ever-so-slightly.

"He didn't want me to start fighting crime," Artemis said, sounding a little defensive. "Once you told him I was doing it anyways, he decided that I might as well have him mentor me." Mockingbird nodded, raising her eyebrows slightly. Artemis looked at her and scowled when she saw the expression on the other blondes face. "What, you don't believe me?" Mockingbird shook her head.

"No, no, that's not it. Besides, it doesn't matter." _I'm the last person to judge someone for keeping part of their life secret,_ Mockingbird thought to herself. She extended a hand. "You're good. The Team is lucky to have you. In other words, welcome." Artemis eyed her nervously, but gave her hand and gripped Mockingbird's in a tight handshake.

"Thanks."

* * *

 **Again, please leave a review and let me know what you think.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Guest: This chapter and the next one will come quickly but they're short (oops). As for Paityn having a mentor, right now the answer is no. She has several 'mentors' at A.R.G.U.S. (as you will see in the next chapter). But I will admit, if she did have a mentor in the League it _would_ be Black Canary. But, there seems to be a stigma around Black Canary protégé OCs, so...yeah. Anyways, thank you so much!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice.**

* * *

 **MOUNT JUSTICE**

 **AUGUST 19, 19:39 EDT**

"Initiate: Combat Training. Three, two, one." When the machine finished the countdown, Kaldur immediately rushed forward, charging at Superboy. Who was shirtless once again. Paityn glanced at the other girls on the Team, all of whom had a crush on Superboy. Sure enough, Akari, M'gann, and Artemis were all watching Superboy with interest.

"Kaldur's, uh, nice, don't you think?" Artemis said, looking at the three other girls. Paityn raised an eyebrow. _What is she getting at?_ "Handsome…commanding…one of you three should _totally_ ask him out!" Paityn coughed, surprised at the sudden and _random_ question.

"Um, no thanks. I'm thirteen – I think he's a little too old for me."

"He's like a big brother to me!" M'gann protested. "But you know who would make the cutest couple? Artemis and Wally!" Akari nodded enthusiastically. Paityn noticed Artemis's eyes narrow slightly. _Oh…_ oh. _They're trying to make Superboy available for one of them by pushing the others into dating other members of the Team._ She rolled her eyes slightly, hoping none of them would notice. _What_ _wimps_. She continued to watch the exchange of her friends with amused affection.

"Oh, totally," Akari said, agreeing with M'gann's earlier statement. "Artemis, you're so full of passion and he's so full of…uh…" They all turned towards Wally, where he was snacking on a burrito loudly. Akari was clearly struggling to think of something flattering to say.

"It?" Artemis asked, making all the girls laugh. Paityn looked at Akari curiously. She knew her friend had a crush on Superboy, but it was still pretty weird of her to be pushing Artemis onto Wally in order to get her out of the way – it didn't seem like Akari at all. Then again, it wasn't like Paityn had ever seen Akari fight over a boy with another girl, let alone crush on a boy. So maybe it wasn't out of character for her old friend.

"Well, Paityn, maybe Kaldur is too old for you, but what about Robin?" M'gann asked the younger girl. Paityn frowned. _Where the hell is this coming from? It's not like_ I _want to date Superboy._

"Robin? No way. I mean, he's cute and everything, be we're just friends." That was true. If Paityn was being _totally_ honest, though, she _was_ harboring a small crush on the Boy Wonder. But that didn't mean that she wanted to date him.

"Uh-huh," M'gann said, smiling knowingly at Paityn.

"M'gann!" Paityn said, half-protesting and half-laughing. "Seriously! I don't even know his real name – how would I be expected to be in a relationship with him?" M'gann shrugged, but before she could say anything else, the girls were cut off by the machine announcing the end of the fight. Superboy had one, having thrown Kaldur on his back and on to his back. The clone was dusting his hands off, looking very self-satisfied.

"Black Canary taught me that," he told his friend, helping Kaldur up. A hatch in the ceiling above opened, and Red Tornado floated down, surrounded by his signature storm. The second the robot's feet touched the ground, Wally sped over to him.

"Do you have a mission for us?" he asked, eager. Red Tornado stopped, looking at Wally. The rest of the Team gathered around their redheaded friend.

"Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility," he reminded the speedster and the rest of his friends. Wally shrugged.

"Yeah, well, the Batman's with the Robin doing the Dynamic Duo thing in Gotham…but you're headed somewhere, right?" Wally smirked at the robot, waggling his eyebrows. "A hot date? Or a mission?" He emphasized the word mission, pronouncing it 'mish-own.'

"If we can be of help," Kaldur added more respectfully. Red Tornado hesitated for a moment longer, but nodded and turned around, pulling up a screen. Displayed on it was an elderly gentleman in a suit and tie, holding a fancy looking cane. Information on him popped up around the pictures.

"This is Kent Nelson, a friend," Red Tornado began. "He is one hundred and six years old."

"Guy doesn't look a day over ninety," Wally joked, whispering to Artemis.

"He has been missing for twenty three days," Red Tornado continued. "Kent was a charter member of the Justice Society, the precursor to your mentors' Justice League."

"Of course," Aqualad said. "Nelson was Earth's sorcerer supreme. He was Doctor Fate." Paityn's eyebrows rose, recognizing the name and she surveyed the situation with greater respect and concern.

"More like Doctor _Fake_ ," Wally muttered, scoffing. "Guy knows a little advanced science and _Dumbledores_ it up to scare the bad guys and impress the babes." Paityn rolled her eyes at Wally's disbelief, exchanging a look with Akari.

"Kent may simply be on one of his walkabouts," Red Tornado continued. "But he is caretaker to the Helmet of Fate, the source of the Doctor's mystic might, and it is unwise to leave such a power unguarded."

"He is like the great sorcerer priests and priestesses of Mars," M'gann remarked, sounding awed and concerned. "I would be honored to help find him." Paityn nodded her head, opening her mouth to agree, but before she could, Wally had shot his hand up in the air.

"Me too!" He proclaimed. " _So_ honored, I can barely stand it. Magic… _rocks_."

"Take this," Red Tornado said, handing a small, old-fashioned looking key to Kaldur. The dark-skinned teen held it in his hand and studied it closely. "It is the key to the Tower of Fate." Wally sidled up to M'gann, looking at her slyly.

"What are the chances that we both so admire the mystic arts?" He asked her in a flirtatious tone. M'gann smiled slightly. Akari stepped forward, raising her hand slightly.

"Um, Red Tornado?" she asked, sounding nervous and excited. "Can I…go? Please? I swear I'll be fine." Red Tornado studied the girl for a long, silent moment before speaking.

"This is an unofficial mission," he said. "I have faith in your ability to keep yourself in check. So, at the risk of facing the wrath of the Batman and Vixen, yes, you may go." Akari grinned widely, eyes shining with excitement. Kaldur faced the Team.

"I must change into civilian clothes," he told them. "Superboy needs a shirt as well. We will meet the rest of you in the hanger."

* * *

 **SALEM**

 **AUGUST 18, 20:22 EDT**

The BioShip glided through the night sky, a comfortable silence settling over the cabin. After a few moments, however, Artemis could not longer resist the urge to take a dig at Wally.

"So, Wally," she said, conversationally. "When did you first realize your _honest affinity_ for sorcery?" Wally jumped, looking startled.

"Well, I – I don't like to brag, but, uh, before becoming Kid Flash, I _seriously_ considered becoming a wizard myself."

"Good thing you didn't consider becoming an actor," Akari muttered under her breath. Artemis and Paityn were the only two who overheard her, and they both stifled laughter at their friend's remark.

"We've reached Tornado's coordinates, but…" M'gann said, voice trailing off.

"Nothing's there," Superboy finished. Paityn studied the empty lot, eyes furrowed with confusion.

"Take us down," Kaldur ordered, and M'gann complied, landing the camouflaged BioShip in the middle of a parking lot. The door opened and the ramp descended, allowing the Team to exit the ship. Kaldur looked around briefly before nodding to the Team. "Wally, Paityn, fan out," he said. "Take a look around." Paityn nodded, spreading her wings and taking to the air. She flew around the vicinity at a low altitude, straining her eyes for anything. After a few moments of nothingness, she turned back, landing next to her friends.

"- isn't simple camouflage," Wally was saying.

"So what do you think?" Artemis asked. "Adaptive micro-opto-electronics combined with phase shifting?"

"Absolutely… _not!_ " He added when M'gann walked closer to the bickering pair. "Clearly, mystic powers are at work here." Artemis rolled her eyes, sighing in exasperation.

"I don't get it," Akari said. Everyone looked at her. "I mean, why would RT give us a key if there's no building?" Kaldur pulled the key out of his pocket, studying it closely.

"A test of faith," he said. He looked up. "Stand behind me." The Atlantean walked forward a few paces, sticking the key out and turning it as if to unlock a door. Weirdly enough, a clicking sound echoed around the empty lock and a building appeared.

"Woah…" Paityn muttered taking a few steps forward. "Impressive." Kaldur walked in, leading the other members of the Team into the entry hall. It was medieval looking, a lot of stone and torches. And it was empty – even the door disappeared.

"Where the hell did the door go?" Akari asked, voicing everyone's confusion. A hologram appeared in front of them. It was the elderly man that Red Tornado had shown them a picture of – Kent Nelson.

"Greetings," the hologram said. "You have entered with a key, but the Tower doesn't recognize you. Please state your purpose and intent." Wally glanced back at M'gann, smirking before stepping forward to answer the question.

"We are true believers, here to find Doctor Fate." His voice oozed with faux-sincerity, making Paityn roll her eyes. The hologram looked at Wally as though the ginger's words had disappointed it. The hologram wavered and disappeared.

"So, is that it or –" before Akari could finish her question, the floorboards underneath them disappeared, sending them into a free fall. It took a second for Paityn to react, but she quickly snapped her wings out, grabbing the person closest to her – Akari.

"Superboy!" she heard Artemis yell. The clone was the only one still falling towards the lava at the bottom of the pit, grabbing onto the rocky walls on the sides in order to slow down some. Paityn dove after the teen, grabbing on to his arm and pulling him up just as his feet grazed the lava. Superboy hissed in pain.

"Those were my favorite boots," he snapped. "This Nelson guy better be worth it." Paityn could only grunt in response, fighting to stay elevated with the added weight and the heat. Wally has being held aloft by M'gann, and Artemis and Kaldur were perched on the on of the walls, holding on to Artemis's crossbow.

"Having trouble maintaining altitude," M'gann gasped out. She swiped sweat off of her brow. "I'm so hot."

"You most certainly are," Wally agreed with her.

"Wally!" Artemis shouted disapprovingly. He turned towards the archer, indignant.

"Hey, inches above sizzling death, I'm entitled to speak my mind."

"My physiology and M'gann's are susceptible to extreme heat," Kaldur panted out. "We must climb out quickly. Paityn, can you fly up?" The winged girl shook her head.

"Not with all this extra weight – uh, no offense guys." Akari snorted. "But it's something else, too. It must be the magic – I can't fly up at all."

"Hello, Megan!" Their resident Martian face palmed. "We never truly answered the question." Directing her voice towards the top of the pit, she spoke again. "Red Tornado sent us to see if Mr. Nelson and the Helmet of Fate were safe."

The Tower responded to her words, and almost instantaneously, a platform closed to cover the lava. Paityn let out a sigh of relief, dropping Akari and Superboy off before landing on her own. Wally and M'gann fell with a thump, the Martian clearly drained. Artemis and Kaldur landed more gracefully beside them, and the blonde archer pulled her grappling line back in..

"This platform," Kaldur said, sounding curious. "It should be red-hot, but it is cool to the touch." M'gann was slouching as though she were too tired to stand on her own. Wally walked over, putting his arm around her shoulders for extra support. The green-skinned girl smiled gratefully at him, leaning against the boy.

"Don't worry, Megalicious, I got ya," he reassured her. Akari snorted.

"Are you kidding me, Wally?" She said, at the same time that Artemis stormed over, shoving Wally backwards.

"Enough! Your little 'impress-Megan-at-all-costs' game nearly got us all barbecued." Wally glared at the blonde archer, holding his hands up.

"When did this become my fault?" he snapped, sounding irritated and defensive.

"You lied to the Tower," Akari said, crossing her arms. "True believer, my ass."

"Wally," M'gann sounded disappointed and hurt. "You don't believe?" The speedster looked around, and then gave up the ruse.

"Fine! Fine!" He shouted. "I lied about believing in magic. But magic is the real lie – a _major_ load." Kaldur was still bent down, examining the platform and the trapdoor that they were standing on.

"Wally, I studied for a year at the Conservatory of Sorcery in Atlantis," he told the ginger, his voice as calm as always. "The mystic arts created the skin icons that power my water bearers."

"Dude, you ever hear of bio-electricity? Hey, in primitive cultures, fire was once considered magical too. Today it's all just a bunch of tricks." Akari rolled her eyes again. Wally could _seriously_ get on her nerves at times.

"What about me?" She asked, crossing her arms. "I'm _possessed_ by a _demon fox-spirit_. How's that for magical?" Wally scoffed dismissively.

"You were created by Cadmus," he reminded the girl. "A _genetics lab._ Which means _science._ Everything can be explained by science. Paityn's wings – genetic engineering crossing a human baby DNA with bird DNA." He paused. "Or, I'm assuming." Paityn shrugged.

"Well, I'll give that to you, you're right there. Still…pretty close minded for a guy who can break the sound barrier in his sneakers."

"That's _science._ I re-created the Flash's lab experiment and – here I am! Again – everything can be explained by science."

"Let us test that theory," Kaldur suggested, pulling at the trapdoor. Wally's eyes widened with panic, and he put his hand out as if to stop Kaldur.

"Wait! The back-draft from the lava will roast us alive." But instead of boiling hot molten rock, when Kaldur pulled open the trapdoor, a gust of cold air and snow floated out.

"It's snow!" M'gann said, laughing. Artemis turned towards Wally, looking smug.

"Do you ever get tired of being wrong?" She asked him. Wally narrowed his eyes at her. Paityn laughed, jumping after Kaldur. Instead of landing as though they'd jumped downwards, however, they landed as though they'd jumped sideways. Wally was the last through and he watched as the opening vanished into thin air after he landed.

"Well?" Artemis asked, raising her eyebrows expectantly.

"Ever hear of string-theory?" Wally asked, refusing to back down. "We're in a pocket dimension." Artemis groaned loudly.

"Guys?" Paityn stopped their argument by pointing to the cane hovering a few feet in front of them. Artemis walked over to it, and Wally speeded over as well.

"Ooh, maybe it's Nelson's magic wand," he said sarcastically, grabbing onto it. Artemis reached it at the same time.

"I got it," they said together. The cane started to glow, and both of them levitated in the air. "I can't let go," they yelled in unison, panicked. The cane pulled them upwards, and before any of their friends could react, a gold glow surrounded them and they disappeared. The remaining five teens looked at each other in confusion and concern.

"Come," Kaldur said. "We must find a way out of this snow, and then we will look for Artemis and Wally." As they walked through the snowstorm, M'gann spoke.

"I don't understand Wally," she said. "It's almost like he needs to believe the impossible can't happen."

"Wally uses his understanding of science to control what he cannot comprehend," Kaldur explained to M'gann. "Acknowledging the existence of magic would be to relinquish the last vestige of that control."

"You guys hear that?" Akari asked, slowing her step. "That…creaking sound?"

"There," Superboy said, pointing to a door and steps on top of a small mountain. They hiked up the hill, and entered the door. Like the last one, it wasn't a normal door, instead opening up into a ten-foot drop. Kaldur, Superboy, and Akari all hit the ground hard, but M'gann and Paityn flew down and landed softly. Wally and Artemis were there too, with a man Paityn assumed to be Kent Nelson.

"Friends of yours?" He asked, as Artemis ran over to greet the rest of the Team. A blast of electricity came out of nowhere, causing the Team to scatter.

"Friends of yours?" Paityn heard Wally yell back to Nelson as another blast hit them. Paityn rolled to the ground, dodging the blast, and when she looked up, Nelson and Wally were gone. Abra Kadabra leapt at the remaining super powered teens. Superboy charged at him, only to be promptly trapped under an electric bubble. Kaldur and Paityn received the same treatment moments later. Paityn groaned as the electricity surged through her body, making it hard to move.

"We need help!" Akari yelled, as Artemis was knocked down as well.

"I'll call Wally!" M'gann replied. Her eyes glowed white as she attempted to speak to Wally telepathically, and Akari struggled to keep Kadabra's attention on her, while simultaneously avoiding every attack he shot. One burst of lightning hit her foot, and she stumbled, crying out in pain. The fox inside of her snarled, but Akari managed to keep herself in check. As she fell to the ground, she too, became trapped under one of the electric cages. She yelled in pain, trying to endure the rapid succession of shocks to her body. Then, suddenly, the shocks stopped. Akari got to her feet, and noticed the glowing gold ankh behind Kadabra. Who, by the way, was wearing nothing except underwear and a startled expression on his face.

"Show's over," Superboy mocked, punching Kadabra in the face.

* * *

 **MOUNT JUSTICE**

 **AUGUST 20, 03:48 EDT**

When the Team returned to the Cave to debrief with Red Tornado, Mari was there. And she did not look pleased. She hovered in the background, listening to the Team recount their mission. When Red Tornado dismissed them, she called over to the Asian girl.

"Akari, a word." The dark haired girl ducked her head, dragging her feet as she walked over to her mentor.

"H – hey, Mari," she greeted the older woman, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. Mari glared at her, arms crossed.

"Don't 'Hey, Mari,' me," she snapped. "What you did was foolish, Akari, plain foolish. I don't care if Red Tornado gave you permission to leave the Cave on a mission, _I_ did not. You put yourself and your teammates at great risk, do you understand me?" Akari nodded meekly, unable to think of an acceptable defense. Mari's face relaxed and her tone became more gentle. "Now that that's over…it sounds like you did well. I think you may be ready to full rejoin the Team on missions soon." Akari raised her head, surprised. Mari smiled at her. "Get some sleep," the woman told her protégé. "We'll talk more about this in the morning."

* * *

 **Sorry, short chapter. Anyways, as always, please leave a review and give me some feedback. Thanks!**


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